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SWMOA–Ava partnering with OFH for Senior Food Box Program

January 4, 2013

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Southwest Missouri Office on Aging (SWMOA) in Ava is the newest Ozarks Food Harvest Senior Food Box Program site, helping serve low-income Douglas County seniors with nutritious food. Ozarks Food Harvest’s Senior Food Box Program supplements the diets of low-income seniors with nutritious USDA commodity foods at 17 locations across 15 southwest Missouri counties.

Each month, Ozarks Food Harvest is able to provide 2,000 income-eligible seniors — ages 60 or older — with healthy food by working with senior centers and low-income senior housing facilities. The Office on Aging in Ava will see 60 of these boxes each month to help serve low-income seniors in Douglas County. The boxes will provide approximately 1,680 pounds of food.

Seniors interested in participating in the program can sign up at the Ava Office on Aging weekdays from 1 to 3 p.m. The senior food boxes will be distributed at the office located at 109 N.E. Second in Ava, Mo.

The food boxes provide a good source of nutrients typically lacking in the diets of low-income seniors, including items such as canned vegetables and fruits, peanut butter, beans, canned meat, cereal, milk, cheese, rice and pasta.

Annually, 24,000 boxes are assembled solely by Ozarks Food Harvest volunteers and distributed by The Food Bank.

For questions regarding the distribution of senior food boxes at SWMOA–Ava, contact Bonnie Evans at (417) 683-5712. To learn more about Ozarks Food Harvest’s Senior Food Box Program, contact OFH Member Services Director Mary Zumwalt 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 250 organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank distributes 10 million meals annually to 170,000 unduplicated individuals. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.

About SWMOA
The Southwest Missouri Office on Aging (SWMOA) is a mission-led, not-for-profit Area Agency on Aging serving 17 counties in southwest Missouri, including Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Douglas, Greene, Howell, Lawrence, Oregon, Ozark, Polk, Shannon, Stone, Taney, Texas, Webster and Wright. Learn more at www.swmoa.com.