Local stores begin collection for Ozarks Food Harvest

Ozarks Food Harvest’s annual Check Out Hunger campaign begins Nov. 19 and lasts through the end of the year. Customers may make tax-free donations in jars placed at the stores’ check-out counters.

Participating stores are Akin’s, Dillon’s, Harter House, Murfin’s Market, Price Cutter, Ramey’s, Smillie’s, Smitty’s, Summer Fresh, Woods Supermarket and, new this year, Cody’s Convenience Stores.

In related news, Drury University’s Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity concluded a nine-month campaign for Ozarks Food Harvest with a collection last weekend.

The fraternity had distributed bags through Springfield neighborhoods and on Nov. 10 returned to pick up food and monetary donations. The drive brought in 6,600 pounds of food and more than $10,000 in donations.

The fraternity began its campaign for Ozarks Food Harvest after the January ice storm. The effort collected a total of 80,988 pounds of food, surpassing the fraternity’s 75,000-pound goal.

More than 150,000 people in the Ozarks are at risk of hunger, according to Ozarks Food Harvest. For every dollar raised, the organization can feed seven people. Ozarks Food Harvest distributes more than 4 million pounds of food annually to its network of 323 agencies in 29 counties.