July 2018
Ozarks Food Harvest Celebrates First Agency Pickup in Building Expansion
W
e are excited to announce that the Ozarks Food Harvest warehouse expansion is complete. Thanks to many generous donors, The Food Bank will be able to serve more individuals across southwest Missouri through the 56,000 square-foot addition.
Currently, Ozarks Food Harvest distributes 19.6 million pounds of food annually. That equates to more than 17 million meals for our hungry neighbors every year. Before the expansion, we were forced to turn away one million pounds of food each year. Now, The Food Bank can accept more donations, and the operations team has more room for organizing and staging food products for agency pickups and deliveries. The new facility will also allow for growth within our volunteer program, which is critical to sort and pack food throughout the year.
On the morning of July 2, Bill and Debbie Carter from Parkview Christian Church backed their food pantry’s truck up into the new agency pickup area. Parkview Christian Church has been working with Ozarks Food Harvest for two and a half years, and Bill picks up the food pantry’s order every week. Bill and Debbie had a chance to see the expanded warehouse as their truck bed was loaded with the items they order each week.
IN THIS ISSUE
Leslie Helps Bill Carter with Parkview Christian Church load thetrailer
“The new pickup area is nice,” Bill said. “There’s a lot of room in the parking lot that makes it easy to maneuver my truck around.” With the new expansion, Ozarks Food Harvest will be able to provide more efficient service for all of our agencies. “The new addition was designed with the needs of our agency partners in mind, both now and in the future. This facility will allow us to grow to more effectively and to meet the increase of our agency network,” said Ozarks Food Harvest president and CEO Bart Brown. During the summer, the food pantry at Parkview Christian Church serves more than
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100 families each week. The agency also offers breakfast for high school students and hosts a Wednesday night dinner each week throughout the school year. Debbie, the Parkview Christian Church food pantry coordinator, places the pantry’s order each week and ensures that her volunteers have everything they need to serve the local community. She is thankful for warehouse associate Leslie Vesay’s assistance each time she visits The Food Bank. We look forward to serving all of our agencies with the additional space. Together, we can change the landscape of hunger for families in the Ozarks.