Teacher Spends Her Summers Giving Back
As a teacher, Amy Viets always looks forward to the summer months—but she isn’t just excited about taking a break from the hustle and bustle of the school year.
For the past seven years, Veits, a drama teacher at Branson Junior High School, has spent her summers volunteering with Ozarks Food Harvest. Her sunny attitude lights up the warehouse each morning when she walks in, and her zeal for volunteering is contagious.
Veits’ passion for helping others through The Food Bank began shortly after the Joplin tornado hit in 2011. “I came into it with an emergency mindset, but now, I see the daily need for food assistance right here in Springfield and in Taney County,” she said.
Along with giving time in the Ozarks Food Harvest warehouse each week, Viets has volunteered at Crimson House, helped pack Senior Food boxes and Weekend Backpacks and worked the phone booth during Hungerthon.
“The people I volunteer with feel like family. I’ve formed a lot of friendships over the last seven years, and we do our best to get dinner once a month!” said Veits.
Since 2011, Viets has donated 300 hours of time to Ozarks Food Harvest—and she plans to keep increasing that number.
“I love helping fulfill that everyday need for food,” she said. “It’s so fun to see the number of pounds that we sorted at the end of each session.”
Ozarks Food Harvest is extremely grateful for Veits’ desire to help fight hunger in the community. Together, we are Transforming Hunger into Hope!