July 2025 Newsletter by Ozarks Food Harvest

HARVEST TIME

OZARKS FOOD HARVEST – THE FOOD BANK NEWSLETTER FROM THE O’REILLY CENTER FOR HUNGER RELIEF

“I’m able to save money and get some traction under my feet now that I’m in this program.”

– Brooke, LifeHouse resident and mother

WITH MEALS ON THE TABLE, A MOM IS BUILDING HER

Brooke has faced two major challenges in her life: Being a mother and overcoming addiction. Both are feats worth celebrating. Both take a village. But when Brooke was at her lowest, she didn’t have a village.

Coming from a good childhood, Brooke never expected where life would take her several years later. In her late 20’s, she fell into an unhealthy relationship and developed a drug addiction that lasted several years. When she became pregnant with her second child, she decided that wasn’t the life she wanted for herself and her kids and made the decision to check into a rehab facility.

A soon-to-be mother of two, Brooke not only had a difficult sobriety journey ahead, but she also had to leave behind old relationships that were no longer healthy for the life she wanted. She didn’t know where to turn for support.

“When I finished rehab, I had nowhere to go,” shared Brooke. But then she learned about LifeHouse.

LifeHouse is a crisis maternity home for pregnant women at risk of homelessness. They provide housing, meals, life skills classes, case management, counseling and more to help new mothers build a safe and stable life. They’re also a partner charity of Ozarks Food Harvest.

FAMILY’S NEW LIFE

“LifeHouse is such a blessing,” Brooke said. “They provide not just meals, but also diapers, wipes, resources, support. It’s been a huge blessing to just be able to focus on getting sober and not have the weight of so many responsibilities right off the bat.”

Planning meals is one of those responsibilities for which Brooke is grateful to have help. LifeHouse provides residents with three meals a day so they can focus on their recovery and goals. It’s a big burden off the moms’ shoulders. In fact, LifeHouse food services manager J.R. is a celebrity amongst the residents.

“J.R. is like a superhero in all the moms’ eyes,” Brooke shared. “It’s so crazy to come home and not have to think about what to cook for dinner after you’ve been at work all day and you’re wrangling your children.”

Along with preparing food, J.R. also teaches the moms how to make their own meals. He bases his classes on residents’ needs and preferences, like his recent “Can Do” class. “Can Do” focuses on planning meals around canned foods, which are cost-effective when budgets are tight.

“It’s teaching them about things they have in the pantry or may get from a food pantry and some creative ways to use those,” explained J.R. “You don’t need to go out and spend a

lot. Sometimes making do with what you have can still be a great meal and a fun time.”

J.R. plans many LifeHouse meals around food from Ozarks Food Harvest, including not just canned goods, but fresh produce and protein like eggs and meat. He shared that 70 to 80 percent of the meals he cooks are based on ingredients from The Food Bank, which helps him prepare nourishing, delicious meals to make LifeHouse feel like home while residents work toward their goals.

For Brooke, her next goal is to buy a vehicle and move into her own place. “I’m able to save money and get some traction under my feet now that I’m in this program,” she shared.

Ozarks Food Harvest is proud to help women like Brooke celebrate every victory without worrying about how they’ll put meals on the table, and we couldn’t do it without your help.

You can help us support partner charities like LifeHouse by donating today at ozarksfoodharvest.org.

MAP THE MEAL GAP RESULTS SHOW FAMILIES NEED OUR HELP THIS SUMMER

Feeding America’s newest Map the Meal Gap results confirm what The Food Bank’s network is experiencing: Food insecurity is the highest it’s been in a decade. The news is daunting, but it’s also motivation to make sure we’re reaching families when they need help the most. This year especially, we’re bracing for increased need during the summer.

Summer is a challenging time for families experiencing food insecurity as students lose access to the free and reduced-price meals they count on at school. Now, Map the Meal Gap shows that a family of four needs $100 more per month to afford groceries compared to just three years ago, making many families wonder how they’ll replace school meals while kids are at home.

Ozarks Food Harvest operates several programs to help our neighbors fill the gap. Our federally funded Summer Food Program helps our partner charities in underserved areas provide free meals to kids.

For the whole family, our Mobile Food Pantry program delivers groceries directly to towns where food assistance is scarce, and we continue to distribute food to our network of over 270 faith-based and community charities across southwest Missouri.

Gail, a recipient from one of our Mobile Food Pantries, shared with us how the program helped her family during the summer. “My husband and I are both on disability,” she explained, “and the money doesn’t go very far with our bills. And then we have our grandchildren here every day

and trying to feed them with what little bit we have left doesn’t really work. With the food [from Ozarks Food Harvest], it’s like a godsend because we know they’re going to get fresh fruit and vegetables, and I can always make at least five meals out of whatever they send.”

Map the Meal Gap is an annual comprehensive review of how food insecurity rates vary across the U.S. and a powerful tool to understand hunger in our communities. These newest results show more families need help to stay nourished all summer long. You can help our neighbors keeps meals on the table by participating in our Summer Harvest events on page 3, volunteering with us, or giving now to make an immediate impact. Every $1 you donate helps provide $10 worth of groceries for a neighbor facing hunger.

14TH ANNUAL FOOD FIGHT SPONSORS RECORD NUMBER OF KIDS IN THE WEEKEND BACKPACK PROGRAM

This year, 38 Springfield Public Schools (SPS), four administrative centers and 33 community partners helped raise $17,400 for the Weekend Backpack Program and 18,000 pounds of food for families facing hunger. That’s a total of 67,000 meals. The funds raised will sponsor 48 children in the Weekend Backpack Program – the most Food Fight has ever sponsored!

Over the course of two weeks in March, SPS students, staff and their community partners competed for the title of Food Fight Champions by collecting the most food and funds per student.

Congratulations to this year’s Food Fight Champions: Mallory ECC, Westport K-8, Mark Twain Elementary, York Elementary, Cowden Elementary, Boyd Elementary, McBride Elementary, Wilson’s Creek Intermediate, Study Alternative High School, SPS General Services

Center, and SPS Bentley Administrative Center.

"I'm incredibly proud of our students and staff for their hard work in collecting meals for neighbors facing hunger,” shared Jessica Blake, SPS coordinator for community relations. “Food Fight empowers our students to make a real difference for families just like theirs—including some sitting beside them in class. We're grateful for our partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest."

Since the competition began in 2011, Food Fight has helped provide 562,000 meals for children and families in southwest Missouri.

“We’re so proud to work with Springfield Public Schools, presenting sponsor Rapid Roberts and other partnering organizations across Springfield for Food Fight,” said Bart Brown, president/CEO at Ozarks Food Harvest.

“These meals will go a long way toward helping the 1 in 5 children and 1 in 6 adults who face

hunger here in the Ozarks.”

Community partners consisted of local businesses and organizations who helped raise food and funds for their partner school and served as additional collection points. Partners included Aaron’s Rent to Own, Awakening Church of God, Battlefield Fire Protection District, Central Assembly, Culver’s, Double Tree by Hilton, First Watch, Great Southern Bank, Little Caesar’s, Local Bevy, Mama Jean’s Natural Market, Messiah Lutheran Church, Mid-Missouri Bank, Oasis Hotel and Convention Center, Penmac Staffing, Starbucks, Vietti Marketing, and presenting sponsor Rapid Roberts.

Thank you to Springfield Public Schools, all of our community partners and everyone who donated to Food Fight 2025. Together, we are Transforming Hunger into Hope!

Charlie’s CORNER

Bill.

THE FARM BILL MUST HELP MISSOURI’S WORKING FAMILIES THIS YEAR

Did you know that for every meal Ozarks Food Harvest provides, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nine?

That’s the enormous impact federal nutrition programs have on our southwest Missouri community. It’s important for you to know this because Congress is revisiting the Farm Bill this fall, the legislation that funds nutrition programs like SNAP, and their decision will help determine if families can continue to put food on the table.

The Farm Bill is a comprehensive piece of legislation reviewed every five years that governs a range of farming and food programs in the United States. The bill is crucial to our neighbors, many of whom are working hard but remain near the poverty line during record inflation for food, housing and daycare. Nearly 80 percent of Farm Bill funding goes to nutrition programs such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and SNAP—two of the most effective programs to help end hunger in southwest Missouri.

TEFAP helps food banks and their network of faith-based and community charities bridge the food gap for working families needing immediate nutrition assistance. Last year alone, Ozarks Food Harvest distributed more than 6 million meals from TEFAP food across a third of the state of Missouri to help families get back on their feet. All of this food is purchased from American farmers and manufacturers, which means this program supports the food producers who form the backbone of our economy.

SNAP is an essential tool for Ozarks Food Harvest’s mission because it helps working families afford nutritious food while providing economic stimulus to the community. In 2024, SNAP provided food assistance to more than 324,000 families each month in Missouri. That’s thousands of our neighbors who could afford

UPCOMING EVENTS

Now - September 1

Take a break from the heat and help end hunger at the pool this summer. Between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. daily, admission to all Springfield-Greene County Park Board outdoor pools is $1 or free when you bring one canned food item per person. Visit parkboard.org for details.

to drive to work, keep the lights on and buy prescriptions without worrying about their next meal. On top of that, $1.5 billion was injected into our state’s economy through families using their SNAP benefits at local retailers. Those benefits helped keep our local economy strong and provided jobs to farmers, truck drivers, grocery stores and food industry workers across the state.

It’s important to remember that people who face hunger are not just statistics; they’re our neighbors, friends and family members. Everyone needs healthy food to live and thrive, regardless of their circumstances.

Wanda, a working mom who receives TEFAP food from Ozarks Food Harvest’s network, shared how much the program has helped her family.

“The TEFAP Program is a great program. The frozen meats, fresh fruits and veggies and the juice. know my children will be eating a healthy meal. am a single mom and have struggled to make sure to keep food on the table. If it hadn't been for this program there might have been a time or two we would have done without.”

ask for your help to let Missouri legislators know that our community supports programs like SNAP and TEFAP. These programs ensure that working families can put food on the table and that Missouri farmers and businesses continue to thrive.

Please take just a few minutes today to contact your Congressional representatives through their websites and ask them to make hunger relief a priority in the Farm Bill.

Sen. Josh Hawley, hawley.senate.gov; Sen. Eric Schmitt, schmitt.senate.gov; Rep. Eric Burlison, burlison.house.gov.

OZARKS FOOD HARVEST MONTH AT CBCO

July 2025

When you donate blood at Community Blood Center of the Ozarks during July, CBCO will triple the value of your LifePoints donation to Ozarks Food Harvest. You earn LifePoints each time you donate blood, and CBCO converts those points to cash for the charity of your choice. Help end hunger and save lives by giving blood this month. Go to ozarksfoodharvest.org/events for more information.

HUNGER ACTION MONTH

September 2025

Join the nationwide effort to raise awareness about hunger and inspire action! At Ozarks Food Harvest, proceeds from Hunger Action Month support the Weekend Backpack Program. You can help end childhood hunger this September by hosting a fundraiser, becoming a community partner or participating in our Hunger Action Month events. Learn more at hungeractionmonth.info.

HUNGERTHON WITH IHEARTRADIO

Help connect kids to nourishing meals during the 27th annual Hungerthon! Ozarks Food Harvest is partnering with iHeartRadio Springfield for the four-day radio-thon this September to raise funds for the Weekend Backpack Program Tune in to Alice 95.5, US97, 100.5 The Wolf, and 105.9 KGBX to sponsor a child for a full school year, or become an event sponsor. Contact sgreen@ozarksfoodharvest.org for more information or to become a sponsor. September 5-8

lawmakers: Strengthen federal nutrition programs in the Farm

Charlie O’Reilly

SPS staff and students at Mark Twain Elementary pose with Ozarks Food Harvest staff and the Food Fight Champion trophy.

Ozarks Food Harvest will lose an estimated $3 million worth of food this year due to recent USDA cuts to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). A third of the cancelled orders were protein items like beef, chicken, eggs and pork, which are often the most expensive for us to purchase.

read in Charlie’s article, federal nutrition programs strongly affect Ozarks Food Harvest’s meal distribution and hunger rates in southwest Missouri. That’s why a strong Farm Bill and a wellsupported Food Bank are so important. Working together, they serve as the backbone of hunger relief across our third of the state.

SPECIAL THANKS

OZARKS FOOD HARVEST RECEIVES

$58,000 GRANT FOR DISASTER RELIEF

Bart Brown,

President/CEO

FROM USDA CUTS THIS YEAR BART’S Hope Note

Without this food, more families will face hard decisions in the coming months, like whether to buy groceries or keep on the lights. Feeding America’s latest Map the Meal Gap study shows that 1 in 5 children and 1 in 6 adults continue to face hunger in Ozarks Food Harvest’s service area, which covers a third of the state of Missouri. As I write this, Congress is even proposing deeper cuts to federal nutrition programs like SNAP, which support working families across Missouri.

Our community and network of charities can’t afford to fill this gap, so they’ll be relying on The Food Bank for help. With the increased cost of groceries and food insecurity at a 10-year high, we will face a challenging year to meet the increased demand for food.

To end hunger in the Ozarks, we need public and private partnerships to invest more food and resources into our community. As you’ve

FROM Cassie's Desk

Ozarks Food Harvest plays a critical role as the safety net for the safety net. Nearly half of individuals facing hunger in the Ozarks don’t qualify for SNAP even though most are working to improve their situation. With these programs out of reach, many families may have nowhere to turn to help fill the gap when times are tough. Our job is to help families facing hunger make ends meet, especially folks living paycheck to paycheck that need just a little help at the end of the month to put food on the table for their children.

But we can’t do it alone. Please consider donating today to help families in need. If you’re already giving, thank you for your support. Your gifts are needed more than ever. Together, we can make a difference for our neighbors in the Ozarks.

DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT FOR KIDS –BECOME A MATCHING SPONSOR

“Without a food bag, I would go home hungry on weekends. I depend on them to get me through the weekend.” – Cheyenne

Every weekend, 1 in 5 children in our community face hunger. The Weekend Backpack Program provides nutritious, child-friendly food to get them through the weekend when school meals aren't available, but the need is growing.

Our annual Hungerthon event is critical to supporting this program, and we need your help to feed even more children. Would you consider becoming a matching donor for the 27th annual Hungerthon this September?

You can sponsor a child for the entire school year for just $360 – or $30 a month. Your gift will fill backpacks with healthy meals and snacks that keep kids nourished and ready to learn when

TYSON FOODS PROVIDES MORE THAN 34,000 MEALS FOR FAMILIES AFFECTED BY RECENT STORMS

In May, Tyson Foods delivered nearly 42,000 pounds of protein items to help families who lost food during recent tornadoes and damaging storms. Protein items are highly requested by our neighbors, but often expensive to source. This generous donation will help provide more than 34,000 meals for our neighbors recovering from recent severe weather. Over the last 16 years, Tyson Foods has provided more than 1.2 million meals through food and fund donations.

In the last five years, there have been seven disaster declarations in Missouri due to severe storms, tornadoes and flooding. Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, thanks to Feeding America, gave Ozarks Food Harvest a $58,680 grant to help us respond to the needs of our hunger-relief network in the event of a natural disaster. With these funds, Ozarks Food Harvest purchased a portable generator, satellite phone, radios, laptops and a network-wide text messaging service that will help us stay connected and maintain power during an emergency. The Food Bank will also be able to mitigate the loss of food and ensure continued delivery to families.

STAMP OUT HUNGER COLLECTS

142,000 MEALS FOR NEIGHBORS IN NEED

Monday morning comes. Kid-friendly foods like shelf-stable milk, cereal, mac & cheese, spaghetti rings, fruit & vegetable cups, and more.

During the on-air event, your gift becomes a match to challenge listeners to donate. Your match multiplies every gift's impact motivates others to act, and sends a powerful message that our community cares about kids facing hunger.

The 27th annual Hungerthon airs September 5-8 on iHeartRadio Springfield stations— Alice 95.5, 105.9 KGBX, 100.5 The Wolf and US97. To become a Backpack sponsor, contact Sarah Green at sgreen@ozarksfoodharvest.org or call (417) 865-3411. With your help, we can provide the food—and hope—these kids so urgently need.

TANEY AND STONE COUNTIES

SLUSHER FOUNDATION FUNDS WEEKEND MEALS FOR CHILDREN IN

Ozarks Food Harvest received a $14,000 grant from the Slusher Foundation to fund weekend meals for children through the Weekend Backpack Program at Crane and Hurley elementary schools during the 2024-2025 school year. These funds provided nearly 10,000 weekend meals to students who may not have had access to meals until they returned to school on Monday.

OPAL FOODS EGG DONATION HELPS FAMILIES KEEP MEALS ON THE TABLE

Families facing hunger in the Ozarks have access to fresh eggs thanks to a donation of 280,000 eggs from Opal Foods, a franchisee of Eggland’s Best. Eggs are one of the most requested items from Ozarks Food Harvest’s network due to their high protein content, nutrition and versatility. This donation came just in time for Easter and served our neighbors throughout the spring.

Our generous community helped raise more than 158,000 pounds of food – nearly 132,000 meals – during this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive in partnership with The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). Local residents participated in the country’s largest single-day food drive by leaving a bag of nonperishable food items by their mailboxes, where their local letter carriers picked them up. The food collected was distributed to local hungerrelief organizations across southwest Missouri.

SCOUTING FOR FOOD RAISES 10,690 MEALS FOR OUR NEIGHBORS FACING HUNGER

In March, community members left bags of nonperishable food on their porches for donation to Ozarks Food Harvest. Scouts from Scouting America’s Ozarks Trail Council went door-to-door to collect donations for the annual Scouting for Food drive. This year, Scouts collected 10,414 pounds of food and $670 to help our neighbors put meals on the table. Thank you to everyone who donated to this year’s food and fund drive. We’re so grateful to the Scouts for their hard work and dedication to serving our community.

Tyson donations included pork sausage and toaster pop-ups.

Representatives from Ozarks Food Harvest, United Way Ozarks Region, NALC and local nonprofits kicked off Stamp Out Hunger in May.

Cassie Hanson, Director of Development

Certified Express, Inc. driver, Opal Foods team and Bart Brown celebrate egg donation.

HUNGER HERO NEWS

FEEDING FAMILIES ACROSS THE OZARKS

LYNN CLINE HONORED WITH THIS YEAR’S GOLDEN GLEANERS AWARD

Congratulations to Lynn Cline for being selected as this year’s Golden Gleaners Award winner! Lynn was honored with this award at our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner in April for his enthusiasm and dedication to the Full Circle Gardens program.

Lynn was introduced to Ozarks Food Harvest through the City of Springfield’s Give 5 program, which connects retirees to local volunteer opportunities. He quickly became a regular with Full Circle Gardens and at the distribution center after he started volunteering in 2023. Now, Lynn is an Ozarks Food Harvest Volunteer Ambassador, helping represent our mission throughout the community.

“Ninety-nine percent of us do small things in the world,” said Lynn. “Cumulatively, they make a huge difference. We’re not all Brad Pitt or the President or Oprah. We can’t all be these larger-than-life figures, but the important thing is that everybody is a spark of life. We all have the ability to contribute in some way.”

The Golden Gleaners Award is given annually to a volunteer who has shown outstanding contribution to Ozarks Food Harvest’s Full Circle Gardens program.

Alexa Poindexter, director of Full Circle Gardens, shared, “Lynn has been such a great volunteer since he started working with us two years ago.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

He’s passionate about feeding people, a wealth of experience and knowledge, quietly hilarious and so community-minded. Even when he’s been unable to join us in the field, he has been eager to find other ways to get involved with the Full Circle Gardens programs and Ozarks Food Harvest.”

Lynn, you’ve helped so many people have access to fresh produce when times are tough. Thank you for your dedication to helping our neighbors facing hunger.

MUSGRAVE GRANT HELPS UPGRADE 78 GARDENING BEDS TO FEED MORE FAMILIES

Thanks to a nearly $200,000 grant from the Jeanette L. Musgrave Foundation – the largest grant the Full Circle Gardens program has ever received – our team has made important updates to our raised garden beds, irrigation system and produce transport at The Food Bank Farm.

Over the past nine months, crews have renovated 78 raised garden beds to grow more produce for families facing hunger in southwest Missouri. Sturdier raised beds will reduce pest habitats, improve volunteer and visitor safety and provide more produce for families facing hunger. We were even able to repurpose some of our old cinder blocks to create flower and herb beds. The garden’s new irrigation system technology will allow our staff to adjust water to plants remotely, which will help save time for more growing projects.

Grant funds were also used to purchase a 1-ton capacity cargo van, doubling the amount of fresh produce and garden equipment we can transport to our partner charities.

The Food Bank’s quarter acre farm grows more than 14,000 pounds of produce per year and serves as an educational hub where students and our partner charities learn about hunger relief and gardening best practices.

Thank you again to the Jeanette L. Musgrave Foundation for helping us end hunger and keep our community healthy. To learn more about how Full Circle Gardens is fighting hunger in southwest Missouri, visit ozarksfoodharvest.org/ programs/full-circle-gardens.

JOIN SUMMER HARVEST TO HELP FIGHT CHILD HUNGER

The weather is warm and school is out for the summer. This is the time of year many of us look forward to making the most out of long, sunny days, but for children facing hunger in the Ozarks, summer is not a season of excitement. Without the meals they receive at school, kids may not know where their next meal is coming from. This summer, you can help families keep meals on the table through our Summer Harvest campaign.

Participate in Summer Harvest by joining Splash & Sizzle food drives at local pools or donating blood at the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks. You can also host your own fundraiser, plant a row in your garden for The Food Bank or support one of our community partners. There are so many ways you can fight hunger this summer, and you can find them all at ozarksfoodharvest.org.

As grocery costs remain high, families need help this summer to keep kids fed. Your generous support will ensure children in the Ozarks have the food they need for a worry-free summer vacation.

Join us as we come together with our community to make sure families enjoy summer as it should be. Your compassion will help Transform Hunger into Hope