Ozarks Food Harvest reaches donation milestone with Crosslines

Ozarks Food Harvest Inc. held a ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate a milestone donation in its partnership with Council of Churches of the Ozarks Inc.'s Crosslines food pantry.

Officials with Ozarks Food Harvest made their 10 millionth meal donation to Crosslines, according to a news release. In partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest, Crosslines distributes food to more than 1,700 families per month.

“This was an excellent chance to showcase Crosslines’ remarkable work and highlight the urgent need for support from the community,” said Bart Brown, president and CEO of Ozarks Food Harvest, in the release. “We’re so lucky to have partners like Crosslines when so many families are facing hunger.”

Crosslines has seen an increase in demand over the past seven months, officials say. Some 41% more households on average are requesting food assistance compared with the same time last year.

“The partnership we've enjoyed with Ozarks Food Harvest these last 33 years has been crucial to the food assistance we provide to our neighbors in need,” said Nathan Mortenson, program manager of Crosslines, in the release. “We are so grateful for the work that Bart and his team do to support pantries like ours all across the region.”

Ozarks Food Harvest since 2010 has provided more than $240,000 in grant funding and 12 million pounds of food to Crosslines, according to the release.