This year during Feeding America’s Hunger Action Month, Ozarks Food Harvest will celebrate by holding events throughout the month of September to raise awareness of hunger issues in the Ozarks. Locally, one in six adults and one in four children are food insecure, which means they may not know where their next meal is coming from. More than 260,000 people in southwest Missouri receive food from The Food Bank every year.
Hunger Action Month is a nationwide campaign throughout September designed to mobilize the public to take action on the issue of hunger and join the movement to help end hunger for the 49 million Americans who struggle.
Check out the 30 ways in 30 days calendar below to find out all the amazing ways you can help fight hunger this September!
The Springfield Community Center, an Ozarks Food Harvest After-School Food Program site, received a generous donation of a new commercial-grade stove from a local executive chefs’ group.
Since 2010, the American Culinary Federation’s Springfield-Branson Chefs’ Association has volunteered at the Springfield Community Center to provide area children with lunch or dinner meals that are typically served at restaurants like Leong’s, Fire & Ice, Twin Oaks Country Club, Cook’s Kettle at Victory Mission, Nakato Japanese Steakhouse as well as demonstrations from food vendors, such as Sysco.
“The chefs provide more than just food and meals at the After-School Food Program,” said Calvin Allen, director of the Springfield Community Center. “They develop relationships and create bonds, providing a complete educational experience for the children.”
After Arlene Eichler retired, she was anxious to find something meaningful to fill her days.
“I get up early and exercise,” the 71-year-old shared, “but after that I thought, ‘Now what am I going to do?’”
Arlene began volunteering at Ozarks Food Harvest nearly four years ago and since then has given 657 hours of her time. She also volunteers twice a week with Well of Life, an OFH member agency.
For children in the Ozarks who are hungry, every day brings a new struggle.
Concentrating in school, finishing homework in the evenings and even playing outside with friends is not easy or fun with an empty stomach. The only meals thousands of these children can count on are breakfast and lunch at school.
When classes are dismissed on Friday afternoon, the weekend can seem awfully long to a child who doesn’t know where his or her meals will come from.
I’m thrilled to share with you that Ozarks Food Harvest has hit a new distribution goal and has served more meals than ever before! In fiscal year 2014, The Food Bank distributed 16.3 million pounds of food, providing 13.6 million meals to our neighbors in need in southwest Missouri.
The number of meals served surpassed our strategic goal by over one million meals! This is all possible because of selfless donors, like you, who give your time, food or funds to support The Food Bank.
We know that each meal provided to a hungry child, unemployed adult or disabled senior means more to them than we will ever know. Behind each meal served, there is a story. And that’s what keeps us pushing to continually increase our distribution. We met Cathy at a recent Mobile Food Pantry distribution in rural Howell County where she was both a recipient and a volunteer. She shared with us that she is so grateful for the food.
Springfield Rotary clubs hosted a Rotary Feeds the Ozarks volunteer day at Ozarks Food Harvest on June 27. Eighty-eight volunteers sorted nearly 19,000 pounds of food and assembled 591 senior food boxes. Together, this will provide 32,374 meals for children, families and seniors in the Ozarks.
As you may know, dedicated Food Bank staff, volunteers and partner agencies work to distribute nearly 262,000 meals each week to people struggling with hunger in the Ozarks. Thirty percent of those served are children.
It’s hard to imagine, but one in every four children right here in southwest Missouri do not know where their next meal will come from.
I’m writing you today to ask for your help to make sure every child has enough to eat, which is something I believe in strongly and is a big reason why I support The Food Bank.
This spring, Ozarks Food Harvest rallied the community to participate in two first-time events. Give Ozarks and The Great American Milk Drive made a significant impact on our neighbors in need. Through these efforts, we were able to spread our mission of hope to more people in the Ozarks.
The first-ever Give Ozarks was in an incredible success. The 24-hour online day of giving hosted by Community Foundation of the Ozarks raised $14,301 for the Weekend Backpack Program. Of the 175 individuals and organizations who donated, fifty percent of them were first time donors.
Five Pound Apparel began a new partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest this year. For every T-shirt sold, the local retailer will provide a donation for Ozarks Food Harvest to purchase just over five pounds of food.
To date, over 1,706 shirts have been sold, equating to 9,383 pounds of food that OFH provided to children, families and seniors in the Ozarks. This is not the first time the local retailer has raised funds for The Food Bank, but this new initiative will provide year-round support for those in need.
Local elementary students stepped up to fight hunger in the Ozarks this spring.
First grade students at Field Elementary donated $1,519.58 to The Food Bank. The students raised the funds by making crafts and selling them at a school-wide market.
The fourth-grade classes at Field created 39 pottery bowls and donated them to help raise awareness of hunger in the Ozarks through the Empty Bowls 2015 event in September. They also collected 29 pounds of food for people in need.
