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April is National Volunteer Month

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Hundreds of “Hunger Heroes” are donating time at Ozarks Food Harvest this month during National Volunteer Month. The regional food bank distributes more than 13.5 million pounds of food in a calendar year—and officials say this would not be possible without volunteers who help process more than three million pounds of food annually.

Ozarks Food Harvest currently offers 11 volunteer sessions each week, seeing nearly 150 volunteers at the O’Reilly Center for Hunger Relief weekly. Individuals and groups accept food items, use food safety guidelines for inspection and repackage for distribution to 200 pantries and hunger-relief programs.

On average, OFH “Hunger Heroes” sort 60,000 pounds of donations each week. Volunteers also help build Senior Food Boxes and assemble Weekend Backpack Program food bags, among other projects. During The Food Bank’s last fiscal year, 3,600 volunteers donated nearly 18,000 hours of time.

Weekday sessions are Tuesday–Friday from 9 a.m.–12 p.m. and Tuesday–Thursday from 1–4 p.m. Evening sessions are Tuesday and Thursday from 6–9 p.m. and weekend sessions are Saturday from 9 a.m.–12 p.m. and 1–4 p.m.

Those interested in volunteering can apply online at ozarksfoodharvest.org/volunteer. Once approved, volunteers can login at the same website to schedule session times online. All sessions must be pre-scheduled and closed-toe shoes are required. For volunteer program questions, contact Jolene Thompson at (417) 865-3411.

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About Ozarks Food Harvest   The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving 200 organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank distributes 10 million meals annually to 170,000 unduplicated individuals. OFH celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2013 and received its second consecutive Four-Star Charity Navigator rating the same year. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.