During Lent, Ozarks Food Harvest asked area churches and community partners to collect fish in cans or pouches for the second annual Fish Drive, a food drive focused on donations of high-protein fish.
The eight churches and organizations that participated collected a total of 929 pounds of food — providing 774 meals for children, families and seniors in the Ozarks. This exceeded last year’s total by 360 pounds.
Prime Inc. held its annual Chili Cook-Off and silent auction supporting Ozarks Food Harvest in February.
The 2015 Chili Cook-Off raised $6,000 for those in need, but this year the local trucking company wanted to go beyond that total and help feed even more people in the community.
Ozarks Food Harvest is encouraging churches, schools, businesses or any interested group to participate in the second annual community Fish Drive during Lent, Feb. 10 to March 24.
In 2015, the idea was implemented to ask the community to go fishing for its neighbors in need throughout the Lent season by collecting canned and pouched fish for Ozarks Food Harvest.
As we approach the New Year at Ozarks Food Harvest, I am thankful for the loyalty and hard work our donors and volunteers continue to show.
With the help of our large family of supporters, we have accomplished a lot this year.
We saw a dramatic increase in the number of volunteers at The Food Bank and several community events drew first-time donors to help their neighbors in need.
Unfortunately, many children, families and seniors in our community still do not know where their next meal will come from.
At Ozarks Food Harvest, we understand the power of a $1 donation. Consider that every dollar donated is stretched to provide $10 worth of food to our neighbors in need.
That’s why we’re thrilled to once again take part in the Walmart Hunger Challenge.
If you’re new to The Food Bank or haven’t heard of this grant, let me tell you more about it. For the past six years, the Walmart Foundation State Giving Program has awarded a grant to Ozarks Food Harvest to provide funding for our agencies. Those agencies then fundraise to receive the grant as a match. For instance, if we select one pantry to receive $5,000, the pantry raises an additional $5,000 to receive the full matching grant.
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.
When there isn’t enough money for groceries to last to the end of the month, struggling families often turn to less expensive, unhealthy food options.
For Pamela and her family, fresh fruit and vegetables are always the first things to go when money is tight.
“I just can’t afford it,” she shared at a recent Ozarks Food Harvest Mobile Food Pantry distribution in Springfield. “It’s hard on everyone.”
Eighty grocery stores partnered with Ozarks Food Harvest during the holidays to help Check Out Hunger, collecting a record $49,786 in check-out lanes across the Ozarks.