Businesses boost coffers, spirits of area nonprofits

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, businesses large and small have donated time, money and goods to less fortunate families and nonprofit organizations, such as Ozarks Food Harvest, The Kitchen Inc. and Springfield Victory Mission.

On Dec. 19, St. John’s Clinic employees presented $40,000 each to Ozarks Food Harvest and The Kitchen to support programs that send at-risk schoolchildren home with healthy foods and assist low-income residents with rent and utility payments.

“We can’t sit by and do nothing when people need help,” St. John’s Clinic Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Donn Sorensen said in a news release. “During the holiday season, we all expect the comforts of home, a delicious holiday meal and the support of family. But not all people are fortunate (enough) to have these things, so we want to help.”

Food for Thought

This is the second year the clinic has donated to Ozarks Food Harvest’s Food for Thought backpack program, which now serves more than 300 children at 17 area schools. Two more schools will be added in January, said Denise Gibson, director of development and communications for Ozarks Food Harvest.

“It’s such an important program,” Gibson said. “As soon as people hear about it, we end up adopting additional schools.”

The program provides children with food-filled backpacks on Friday evenings to ensure they don’t go hungry over the weekend, Gibson said. Hot meals, cold cereal and nutritious snacks are included.

The Evangel University music department also donated 1,474 pounds of food and nearly $800 in cash raised through its annual Celebration of Christmas Concert. Admission price to the concert was a cash or food donation that went to Ozarks Food Harvest. More than 5 tons of food and $5,000 have been donated to the food pantry in eight years of partnering with Evangel.

Additionally, Gibson said SRC Holdings Corp. conducts an annual holiday food drive for Ozarks Food Harvest, which also receives sizeable donations from Dillon’s and Kraft.

Serving The Kitchen

The Kitchen will apply St. John’s $40,000 donation to its emergency assistance program, which helps prevent homelessness by assisting with rent and utility payments. The clinic has donated to the program three years in a row, assisting 324 adults and 256 children last year alone.

“I don’t know what we would do if that went away,” said Kitchen CEO Bill Stalnaker. “A lot of times, people have not been able to pay their rent. They’ve waited, and they’re a couple months behind.”

Stalnaker said the average $300 gift could save residents from an untimely eviction or a cold winter month without heat.

Other businesses also have been instrumental in raising money for The Kitchen. Stalnaker specifically mentioned the O’Reilly family’s $50,000 challenge, which he said has raised more than $400,000 during the past three holiday seasons.

“There’s just tons of churches and corporations that always step up and help those in need,” Stalnaker added. “This community always comes through.”

American Dehydrated Foods Inc. and International Dehydrated Foods Inc. also donated $5,000 to The Kitchen this year and encouraged those on its Christmas card list to do the same.

In 2004, the companies’ owners decided to replace Christmas cards with letters urging their customers and business partners to donate to a specific nonprofit, said ADF executive Tom Slaight. This year, that nonprofit was The Kitchen.

“We decided somebody could make better use of the money we’d be spending on Christmas cards,” Slaight said, noting that the letters have prompted at least a few donations. “It’s an intended consequence. You’re hoping your action stimulates action by somebody else in a positive way.”

On a mission

Springfield Victory Mission is riding the high of holiday giving.

For the past two years, the nondenominational, evangelical ministry and shelter has partnered with Kum & Go convenience stores and Oldies 105.1 KOSP to raise money for its programs. This year’s effort, which took place in November, raised more than $15,000, said Christy Wichlinski, the mission’s public relations director.

Kum & Go customers who donate to Victory Mission are recognized with paper turkeys hung in the 20 area stores, said District Supervisor Barry Green. This year, the Kum & Go at Kimbrough Avenue and Elm Street alone raised more than $3,000.

On a smaller scale, employees at Diesel Exchange Inc. organized a Food Day to raise money for Victory Mission. Employees brought dishes for lunch and those who ate from the potluck made a $5 donation, said Project Manager Susan Thiessen.

The potluck raised $200, and the company matched the amount for a total donation of $400. Thiessen said the contribution, although modest, would pay for more than 200 holiday meals at the mission.

Clark Snyder, the mission’s development director, reminds businesses that it’s not too late to make tax-deductible charitable donations for 2006. “Remember, this is the season for giving,” Snyder said in a release, calling the tax benefits “icing on the cake.”[[In-content Ad]]