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Local children’s programs could receive grants from Walmart

Local children’s programs could receive grants from Walmart

April 3, 2013

Ozarks Food Harvest partners could receive two $20,000 grants from Walmart

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Ozarks Food Harvest is hoping the public can help them “click” their way to a couple of grants from Walmart for two of the regional food bank’s partner agencies, the Boys & Girls Club of Southwest Missouri in Joplin and About Our Kids in Lamar.

By voting for these two children’s programs right here in the Ozarks, $20,000 from the Walmart “Fighting Hunger Together” initiative could go to each of these area organizations that receive food from Ozarks Food Harvest.

The public will decide what organization will receive the grants through a voting campaign at www.facebook.com/walmart. The more votes a hunger-relief agency receives, the better chances they have of winning the money. Community members with a Facebook account can vote once a day through April 30.

“We chose to nominate two of our children’s feeding sites, the Joplin Boys and Girls Club and Lamar’s AOK, because both have critical needs. Not only do they have high child food insecurity rates of more than 25 percent, they are also in dire need of new kitchen equipment to prepare and serve safe and healthy food,” said Denise Gibson, development director at Ozarks Food Harvest. “One of these agencies is growing so much that they need to purchase a walk-in refrigerator and freezer unit. The Walmart grant would go a long way to ensure that children in the Ozarks have access to the food they need to thrive.”

The Walmart “Fighting Hunger Together” initiative is awarding 100 child hunger grants totaling $3 million. There are 178 programs nationwide, like BGCSM and AOK, in the running for 60 $20,000 grants. The two OFH-member agencies have a one in three chance of receiving the funds. There are also 133 Feeding America food banks in the running for 40 $45,000 gifts.

According to Ozarks Food Harvest, there are more than 8,000 children who struggle with the issue of hunger in Jasper and Barton County alone.

Go to bit.ly/VoteAOK  to vote for About Our Kids or bit.ly/VoteBGC  to vote for the Boys & Girls Club. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org.

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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 nonprofit agencies across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank distributes 10 million meals annually to 170,000 unduplicated individuals. OFH celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2013. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.