Lindsey Neddenriep is in the business of inspiring others into action. She has been working on the frontlines in the regional fight against hunger since joining Ozarks Food Harvest in her junior year at Missouri State University.
In 2006, Neddenriep became Ozarks Food Harvest's first public relations specialist and event planner. She left the organization briefly, but returned in 2009 as public relations and event management coordinator, which is her current role.
Neddenriep has been involved with roughly a dozen organizations that are working to improve the Springfield area. In 2011, she took on the role of community service director for Rotaract, the Rotary-sponsored service club for members under age 30. This year, Neddenriep is serving on the group’s board of directors as secretary. Neddenriep has also been a blood-drive host for the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks, a board member of the American Advertising Federation of the Ozarks, and a volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Convoy of Hope, the Developmental Center of the Ozarks, and others.
It is her work feeding the hungry that she finds most rewarding, though.
“I get the most satisfaction when I serve time distributing food at rural mobile-food pantry drops,” Neddenriep says. “We truly don’t know how much we take for granted until we serve hungry families, at-risk children and vulnerable seniors who literally wouldn’t make it without the help of the community in which they live.”
Neddenriep’s work has helped Ozarks Food Harvest earn numerous awards in recent years. In 2007 and 2009, she helped the food bank secure the Jane Meyer Nonprofit of the Year award from AAF of the Ozarks for the food bank’s “Check Out Hunger” and “Taking the Initiative” campaigns. In her time with Ozarks Food Harvest, the organization also has been named Small Business of the Year by Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce; Charitable Organization of the Year by Springfield Business Journal; and Outstanding Philanthropic Organization of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Neddenriep has helped the service organization receive needed funding. She has written dozens of grants, generating $2.5 million in awards for the food bank. In addition, through the annual events she coordinates for Ozarks Food Harvest, she has helped raise $700,000.
She says she is proud to influence the next generation of public relations officials by speaking at PR classes at MSU, and through assisting with other work, such as editing résumés, as a mentor.
Click here for full coverage of the 2012 40 Under 40.[[In-content Ad]]
