2008 Economic Impact Awards Finalist, Charitable Organization of the Year: Ozarks Food Harvest

When the converted beverage trailer visited Gainesville, population 500, 350 people lined up, says Executive Director Bart Brown.

“It’s just so impactful to see that many people (who) need that food,” he says. “It totally makes a difference as to whether people get through for a month.”

Such is the need within the 29-county region that Ozarks Food Harvest serves with both food and supplies. The nonprofit food bank distributes 5 million pounds of food each year to almost 350 agencies, such as shelters, food pantries and senior centers.

“One of the biggest challenges we’re facing and our network agencies are facing is the number of people who are needing assistance,” Brown says.

In 2003, Ozarks Food Harvest served 24,000 people a month. Last year, that number had risen to 41,000, and half of those served are younger than 18.

“Between children under 18 and seniors over 65, that’s about half of the folks that we see,” Brown says, “And where we see the biggest increase is among the working poor.”

Springfield enjoys a relatively low cost of living, but wages aren’t keeping up, Brown says.

When it’s time to economize, food gets the squeeze, because expenses such as rent, car payments and child care are mandatory for those who want to avoid homelessness and keep their jobs.

Also driving need is higher gas prices. Most goods are delivered via the trucking industry, which is suffering from high diesel prices, and everyone feels the pinch at the grocery store.

“We’re seeing more middle-class people turning to food banks,” Brown says. “What our agencies are reporting is a lot of new faces.”

Since March, Ozarks Food Harvest has distributed 500,000 pounds a month. That’s as much as the nonprofit distributed after the January 2007 ice storm – what Brown calls “disaster levels.”

As measured by a University of Missouri study, southern Missouri ranks higher in poverty indicators – food stamps, child poverty, income at or below the poverty line – than Kansas City and St. Louis, Brown says.

Ozarks Food Harvest supports several relief programs, including the Mobile Food Pantry and Food for Thought.

The mobile program started as a pilot in July 2006 and aims to reach people in rural areas that don’t have physical places to distribute food.

Started in 2005, Food for Thought gives backpacks with a weekend’s supply of individually packaged, nutritionally balanced and easy-to-open food and toiletries to at-risk kids.

“Our goal, of course, is to have this program in every county that we serve, and the challenge there is funding and costs,” Brown says. “I think that child poverty is an invisible problem in southwest Missouri.”

Another problem is lack of space at Ozarks Food Harvest. This challenge, however, will be solved when the nonprofit breaks ground – possibly this year – on a 46,000-square-foot warehouse with more cooler space.

The planning began in 2003, and fundraising kicked off with a silent phase in 2004, says Jim Lewis, capital campaign co-chair, noting that the facility will cost almost $4.5 million dollars.

The nonprofit needs another $700,000, which will bring in matching out-of-state funds of $1.5 million, Brown says.

A new warehouse means Ozarks Food Harvest won’t have to redirect 250,000 pounds of food a year because space is limited.

Ozarks Food Harvest

Address: 615 N. Glenstone Ave., Springfield, MO 65802

Web: www.ozarksfoodharvest.org

Employees: 17

2007 Budget: $8.5 million

Information accurate at the time of the honor.