Community Foundation, Ozarks Food unveil $1M campaign

With the backing of a $125,000 Walmart Foundation State Giving Program challenge grant, Ozarks Food Harvest and Community Foundation of the Ozarks have teamed up for the second annual Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge.

The challenge grant will match funds up to $125,000, meaning $250,000 in potential funds could be gained to support hunger relief throughout the Ozarks and southwest Missouri. If the $250,000 is raised, it would leverage about $1 million worth, or 2.5 million pounds, of food.

Since Ozarks Food Harvest is working with donated food, it is able to distribute it for about 18 cents per pound, much less than the $1.25 per pound average distribution cost for consumers, said Bart Brown, president and CEO of Ozarks Food Harvest.

Brown said the challenge, which runs April 1-Sept. 30, comes at an opportune time.

"A lot of people are turning to food pantries for the first time ever," Brown said, referring to a recent Feeding America study, which showed that food insecurity - people being unsure when their next meal might come - within Ozarks Food Harvest's 28-county service area is 17 percent, or 177,870 people.

Of that number, half are eligible for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Women, Infants and Children Program; 26 percent are eligible for WIC; and 24 percent are not eligible for any government assistance.

Brown said that 24 percent represents about 43,000 people.

"They have assets that disqualify them but don't have any money," he said.

Ozarks Food Harvest will be directly partnering with Community Foundation of the Ozarks to match the Walmart Foundation challenge, Brown said, noting that 27 Ozarks Food Harvest member agencies and 27 CFO affiliates throughout southwest Missouri would be working toward the goal in a variety of ways, including auctions and other fundraising events.

This year, the challenge will be directed toward the people above the poverty threshold who still aren't sure when their next meal might be, Brown said.

"(We will) target the counties which have the largest levels of food insecurity and have the highest levels of individuals who don't qualify for federal aid," he said.

During the inaugural year of the Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge, OFH and CFO raised about $110,000, which was matched by the Walmart Foundation for a total of $220,000.[[In-content Ad]]