Three years ago, university student Kelly Giang volunteered at Ozarks Food Harvest for the first time on the casual invitation from a friend. She thought it would be a good opportunity to complete class requirements and boost her resumé, but it has become so much more.
“It’s not fun weeding,” said Cindy Hunter, “but when you’re weeding with somebody else, it’s a whole different world. It’s fun.” And she would certainly know. Cindy has been volunteering several times a week with The Food Bank’s Full Circle Gardens Program for over a year, not to mention she grew up on a farm. Oh, and did we tell you she has a garden of her own at home, too?
Ozarks Food Harvest volunteer Gary DeHaven spent his career working in bustling news stations across the country, so when he retired in southwest Missouri, he knew he wanted to find a way to give back to the community and keep busy.
According to volunteer Lynn Cline, memorizing facts and absorbing information like we do as children and students becomes more difficult as people age, but the benefit of experience is that we gain the wisdom to see how it all connects – how our choices and actions make a difference in the world.
Ozarks Food Harvest is asking community members to help provide 2,024 meals in 2024 by participating in their Resolve to Get Involved volunteer campaign.
Ozarks Food Harvest was excited to celebrate with Central Bank of the Ozarks in December as they reached their 1,000th hour of volunteerism at The Food Bank. At a well-deserved celebration of their achievement last month, Ozarks Food Harvest staff presented Central Bank with their own 1,000-hour apple plaque to be displayed on The Food Bank’s Gift of Time Tree.
If you meet Lauren Pyle, you might remember her smile. That’s because Lauren likes to have a smile on her face wherever she goes in the hopes she might put one on someone else’s face, too. Lauren has had a compassionate heart for a long time, and for nearly two years, she’s brought hope to our neighbors facing hunger by volunteering at Ozarks Food Harvest.
John Deere is a company focused on advancing humanity, and Dave Ahlstrand, manager of financial analysis at John Deere Reman, says the best way to do that is to first address basic necessities. “Making sure people have access to food – What’s a higher purpose than that?” he says. “When people can’t eat or feed children, they won’t have the energy to accomplish anything else.”
Dr. Sunthosh (Sunny) Parvathaneni is a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist at Mercy Hospital. He manages cardiac arrhythmias, implant devices and cardiac ablations. In other words, he specializes in heart rhythm problems. As you might expect, he has a busy schedule, which is exactly why he takes the time to volunteer at Ozarks Food Harvest.
Graddy Real Estate has a team of employees with a heart for helping people. Their team is able to help people every single day by connecting individuals to homes, but that’s not the only way they’re leaving a lasting impact on the community.