Volunteers collecting Holiday Helpings from Walmart shoppers
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— At least two Walmart Supercenters in Springfield are hosting Holiday Helpings collections for Ozarks Food Harvest this month at a day-long food drive on Saturday, Nov. 23.
The E. Kearney and S. Campbell stores are asking for the donations from shoppers from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., when volunteers will be handing out most needed food items lists.
The Holiday Helpings drive will collect food items that low-income families in the Ozarks may like to prepare during the upcoming holiday season, such as instant mashed potatoes, canned gravy or gravy mix, canned holiday veggies (such as green beans and corn), boxed items (such as stuffing, scalloped potatoes or mac ‘n cheese). Donations of other nonperishable food items will also be accepted.
“Walmart donates hundreds of thousands of pounds of food monthly to Ozarks Food Harvest to help us meet our annual distribution goal of more than 12 million pounds, or ten million meals,” said OFH Development Director Denise Gibson. “We are so grateful for the support of our local stores and couldn’t be happier about them stepping up to host a community food drive for our neighbors in need over the holidays.”
Donors can also drop off nonperishable, or perishable, food donations at the O’Reilly Center for Hunger Relief at 2810 N. Cedarbrook in Springfield, Monday–Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
“Hunger will still be with us in the New Year, so volunteers will be busy in our warehouse sorting much of the food that comes in over November and December,” Gibson said. “The truth is, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner are two days and two meals out of 1,095 meals eaten during the 365 days of the year. We thank everyone for helping us feed those in need every day.”
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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 200 organizations 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.