Ozarks Food Harvest shares in $25M in aid

Gov. Jay Nixon announced yesterday about $25 million will be used to aid Missouri food banks, food pantries and low-income children and senior programs, including Springfield's Ozarks Food Harvest.

Program funds are from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to a news release.

“Many Missouri food banks and food pantries saw their shelves stripped bare as more working families struggled and donations dwindled," Nixon said in the release. "This will help children and working families that still need assistance.”

The Missouri Association of Food Banks, in which six state food banks are networked, will receive approximately half of the funds.

The association, which will use the funds to serve more than 1,700 relief agencies and food pantries, consists of Ozarks Food Harvest, Columbia-based Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri, Kansas City-based Harvesters Community Food Network, Cape-Girardeau-based Southeast Missouri Food Bank, St. Joseph-based Second Harvest Community Food Bank and St. Louis Area Food Bank, the release said.

The funds also will increase participation in Missouri's Share the Harvest project, a program that gives out venison donations made by hunters and processors, according to the release.

Nixon said he looks at the Share the Harvest extension as a way to stretch out the use of the federal funds.

"Last year during deer season, Missouri hunters and meat processors stepped up to the plate to assist their fellow Missourians," he said in the release. "This will help ensure even more of their neighbors benefit from their generosity.”

The remaining funds will go toward Missouri's Temporary Assistance for Needy families program, which supports low-income families, the release said.[[In-content Ad]]