Ozarks Food Harvest receives $100K grant

The Missouri Foundation for Health recently awarded a $100,000 grant to Ozarks Food Harvest to aid its mission of feeding people in its 28-county service area.

The funding will be used to purchase warehouse equipment and cover additional food and distribution expenses, according to an Ozarks Food Harvest news release.

“This gift from the Missouri Foundation for Health will help us meet our goal of distributing 12 million pounds of food by next year,” Denise Gibson, Ozarks Food Harvest development director, said in the release.

The health foundation has been a major supporter of the food bank in recent years, providing $200,000 in funding between 2008 and 2010, following $30,000 in emergency funding given to the organization in 2007 due to demand brought on by winter ice storms, the release said.

Gibson noted that the most recent round of funding comes at a crucial time for the nonprofit food provider.

"March was a record-breaking month for us," she said in the release, adding that the food bank distributed more than 1 million pounds of food items and supplies to its network. "We’ve never distributed more than 1 million pounds in one month before. In order to meet the need, and our goal, we need to distribute at least 1 million pounds each month through the remainder of our fiscal year."

Ozarks Food Harvest distributes food or supplies to roughly 20,000 individuals weekly, according to the release.[[In-content Ad]]