Ozarks Food Harvest plans $4M expansion

Ozarks Food Harvest plans to expand its Springfield headquarters to the tune 56,000 square feet and $4 million.

The nonprofit today announced a capital campaign to fund a warehouse addition to its O’Reilly Center for Hunger Relief, 2810 N. Cedarbrook Ave. The expansion would more than double its 46,000-square-foot distribution center, officials say.

Spokeswoman Christine Temple said private gifts during the past year have raised $3.1 million, including a $700,000 challenge grant from the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation. Ozarks Food Harvest is required to raise $900,000 by Dec. 1 to earn the grant funds.

“With more space, we can provide millions of additional meals to those struggling in the Ozarks, like children who cannot concentrate at school because of their growling stomachs; hard-working families who don’t have enough for dinner; and seniors who face impossible choices between food and medical care,” Ozarks Food Harvest President and CEO Bart Brown said in a news release.

The expanded distribution space is expected to allow Ozarks Food Harvest to double its meals donated annually to 30 million and collaborate with additional charitable and government partners.

A site plan created by Marshall-Waters-Woody Associates Inc. shows the additional space would be adjacent to the current warehouse and connected by a 70-foot hallway.

Ozarks Food Harvest moved into the $4.8 million O’Reilly Center for Hunger Relief in 2009 after outgrowing its space at 615 N. Glenstone Ave., according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

The nonprofit ranked 13th on SBJ’s 2017 list of the area’s largest nonprofits with 50 employees and an operating budget of $28 million. Ozarks Food Harvest currently provides 15 million meals annually to 261,000 individuals through 270 organizations in southwest Missouri.

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