Media

250 Neosho residents receive food assistance from the “pantry on wheels”

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Southwest Chapter of the U.S. Bank Development Network is sponsoring a Mobile Food Pantry distribution for 250 community members in Neosho at 10:00 a.m. today, passing out food items and household supplies from Ozarks Food Harvest’s truck in the U.S. Bank parking lot.

Fifteen of the bank’s employees are volunteering to hand out the food to those pre-qualified by Ozarks Food Harvest’s member pantry in Neosho, the Help Center. The purpose of the U.S. Bank Development Network is to encourage all staff members to grow professionally in their banking career and to serve the communities in which they work and live.

Typically, the Mobile Food Pantry distributes food to communities seeing an increased need for assistance. The truck also distributes perishable food items like fresh produce, as many community pantries do not have enough cooler or freezer space to store donations. Ozarks Food Harvest says it tries to stock the truck with items that pantries do not always receive or items that individuals cannot use food stamps to purchase like laundry detergent or shampoo.

Today’s truck contained lunch meat, sliced cheese, bread, green beans, toilet paper, paper towels, baked goods and more.

Nearly 16 percent of people in Newton County are food insecure, according to Ozarks Food Harvest and Feeding America’s recent Map the Meal Gap study.

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About Ozarks Food Harvest—The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving more than 300 hunger relief organizations across 28 Ozarks counties in addition to the long-term relief sites in Joplin. The Food Bank reaches 20,000 individuals weekly and distributes one million pounds of food monthly. OFH was named the 2011 Small Business of the Year by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org and at facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest.

About U.S. Bank
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), with $321 billion in assets as of June 30, 2011, is the parent company of U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. The company operates 3,086 banking offices in 25 states and 5,086 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. U.S. Bancorp and its employees are dedicated to improving the communities they serve, for which the company earned the 2011 Spirit of America Award, the highest honor bestowed on a company by United Way. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at www.usbank.com.