Donation delivers 2.6 tons of chicken to Springfield nonprofit

A donor this morning dropped off 2.6 tons of chicken at Ozarks Food Harvest.

Waverly, Nebraska-based Smart Chicken donated 5,200 pounds of poultry to the Springfield nonprofit, according to a news release.

"The Food Bank will use Smart Chicken’s donation to help its network of community and faith-based partners across the Ozarks provide healthy, protein-rich meals for families facing hunger this holiday season," officials said in the release. "Protein-rich foods are one of the most-requested items from Ozarks Food Harvest’s network of faith-based and community charities. In Ozarks Food Harvest’s service area, 1 in 5 children and 1 in 6 adults face hunger."

Today's protein presentation follows a giving challenge in which Smart Chicken pledged to donate 10% of poultry purchased in November at participating retailers including Apple Market, Country Mart and Price Cutter. Smart Chicken has donated more than 161,000 pounds of poultry to Ozarks Food Harvest since 2004.

Ozarks Food Harvest, which was named the winner in its category of large organizations this year for Springfield Business Journal's Nonprofit Excellence Awards, in 2023 provided 20 million meals, a total of $45 million in food and services. The nonprofit operates on a cash budget of $12.7 million with $40 million of in-kind food donations.