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Kraft volunteers to staff Mobile Food Pantry™ distribution in Springfield Thursday

WHAT:  Ozarks Food Harvest’s Mobile Food Pantry™ program distribution to approximately 150 low-income seniors of The South Towers–Senior Housing in Springfield, Mo.

WHERE:  The South Towers – Senior Housing, 770 South Ave., Springfield, Mo. (Housing Authority – Springfield)

WHEN:  Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.; OFH & Kraft to arrive at 9 a.m. for set-up, distribution begins at 10 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Local Kraft Foods employees have been volunteering at Ozarks Food Harvest since Monday as a part of the company’s first-ever global week of service — “Make a Delicious Difference Week” — from Oct. 5–10; tomorrow the volunteers will distribute food from The Food Bank’s Mobile Food Pantry™ to nearly 150 seniors in need at The South Towers-Senior Housing in Springfield.

Distribution begins at 10 a.m. inside of the facilities [as opposed to directly from the truck due to forecasted weather conditions].

From Monday, Oct. 5 through Wednesday, Oct. 7, volunteers from Kraft Foods in Springfield accepted, sorted, inspected and repackaged nearly 50,000 pounds of donated food and supplies at Ozarks Food Harvest’s warehouse located in the North Creek Business Park in North Springfield.

According to The Food Bank’s public relations coordinator, Lindsey Neddenriep, the typical amount of donations processed by volunteers in one day is at maximum 5,000 pounds.

“Our volunteers from Kraft Foods this week have really put a dent in our holding area, where the food is stored immediately after The Food Bank receives it, but before it is processed for distribution to our 350 nonprofit hunger relief member organizations,” said Neddenriep. “It has been amazing to see the total amount of food items and household supplies inspected, sorted and repackaged at the end of each day. On Monday, the group processed approximately 13,000 pounds, on Tuesday, 20,000 and around noon on Wednesday, another 13,000, totaling 46,000 pounds, and the week isn’t over yet!”

“We are extremely grateful for our partnership with Kraft Foods who also makes regular donations to Ozarks Food Harvest,” said Neddenriep. “This week has been such a blessing for our organization. Processing donations faster allows us to distribute more food to those who need it most right now.”

Springfield Kraft Foods volunteers have also been creating hundreds of messages of hope for at-risk students who benefit from Ozarks Food Harvest’s Weekend Backpack Program™ which delivers backpacks full of food to at-risk students each week for the entire school year. The notes will be placed inside the backpacks when volunteers fill them full of food.

“This is something new we’re asking of our volunteers. It’s just a simple way to let the hundreds of children who benefit from our Weekend Backpack Program™ know that someone cares about them and that they make a difference,” said Neddenriep.

Friday is the last day for the volunteers to spend a full day in Ozarks Food Harvest’s new Volunteer Services Center inspecting, sorting and packaging food donations into cases and onto pallets for bulk distribution.

Other local nonprofit organizations benefitting from Kraft Foods’ week of volunteering include the Boys & Girls Club of Springfield, the Boys & Girls Town of Missouri, the Family Violence Center and the Regional Girls’ Shelter, according to a news release distributed by Kraft Foods on Monday.

Globally, more than 10,000 Kraft Foods employees are participating in the week of service to fight hunger, promote healthy lifestyles and build stronger communities.

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About Ozarks Food Harvest—The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest dedicated its larger, more efficient distribution center on Sept. 15, 2009. It is the only food bank in southwest Missouri and serves more than 350 hunger relief organizations, reaching more than 55,000 people each month in 29 Ozarks counties. OFH distributed seven million pounds of food during its last fiscal year — the highest distribution in The Food Bank’s 25-year history — made possible due to its network of charities and direct-relief programs such as the Weekend Backpack Program™, Kids Cafe® and the Mobile Food Pantry™ program. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org.

About Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods (www.kraftfoodscompany.com) makes today delicious in 150 countries around the globe. Our 100,000 employees work tirelessly to make delicious foods consumers can feel good about. From American brand icons like Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings, Maxwell House coffees and Oscar Mayer meats, to global powerhouse brands like Oreo and LU biscuits, Philadelphia cream cheeses, Jacobs and Carte Noire coffees, Tang powdered beverages and Milka, Cote d’Or, Lacta and Toblerone chocolates, our brands deliver millions of smiles every day. Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) is the world’s second largest food company with annual revenues of $42 billion. The company is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor’s 500, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Ethibel Sustainability Index.