News

Each month, Ozarks Food Harvest serves 90,000 neighbors across their 28-county service area in southwest Missouri – that wouldn’t be possible without the help of dedicated volunteers.

Each year, 3,900 volunteers show up to The Food Bank ready to make a difference for folks facing hunger in our southwest Missouri community. Volunteers are key to The Food Bank’s mission to Transform Hunger into Hope because they help ensure food is sorted, inspected and packed to get to our neighbors as quickly and safely as possible.

Ozarks Food Harvest’s warehouse turns over its inventory 12 times a year, meaning the food they receive moves out to the community about once a month. That’s about 2 million pounds of food moving in and out of their warehouse each month. Volunteers help sort and pack nearly a fourth of it, which keeps food moving smoothly to families facing hunger. Without their volunteers, The Food Bank would need to hire an additional 16 full-time employees to keep up.

Each week, volunteers help with a variety of projects at Ozarks Food Harvest like food sort and pack sessions, Hope Note writing, and seasonal projects at the Food Bank Farm. That includes building about 2,000 bags for the Weekend Backpack Program and more than 1,000 Senior Boxes.

CEO/President Bart Brown also tells me how hard the staff at Ozarks Food Harvest work to ensure each person leaves feeling like their time mattered. That’s why they make sure every volunteer knows where they need to be, what they’re doing and how many meals they’re providing at the end of each session. Volunteers also serve as some of Ozarks Food Harvest’s strongest advocates within the community. Every time a volunteer tells a friend or family member about their positive volunteer experience at The Food Bank or wears an Ozarks Food Harvest shirt, they’re helping raise awareness about hunger in southwest Missouri.

I’d like to express my gratitude to all the generous folks who volunteer with Ozarks Food Harvest. Your generosity and support for our community are invaluable, and I appreciate your commitment to Transforming Hunger into Hope.

If you haven’t volunteered with The Food Bank, I encourage you to look through their volunteer opportunities and apply for the scheduled session of your choice at ozarksfoodharvest.org/volunteer. Bring a friend or family member, too. Just one three-hour volunteer session means more folks in southwest Missouri will be able to put food on the table tonight.