CFO Awards $267K To 13 Agencies Throughout Ozarks

A philanthropic organization based in Springfield has awarded over a quarter of a million dollars to 13 agencies pledging to use the money to make their communities better. KSMU’s Jennifer Moore attended the presentation of the grants, and has this report.

Through its Coover Regional Grantmaking program, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, granted over 267,000 dollars to needy organizations Tuesday afternoon.

One of the recipients was Ozarks Food Harvest, which will use the 33,000 it was awarded to fund the Weekend Backpack program. That’s an effort that sends backpacks full of food home with needy children who would otherwise likely go hungry over the weekend while they are away from school.

Nicole Harroll, principal at Mt. Vernon elementary school, works with Ozarks Food Harvest to send the backpacks home to 24 low-income students in her school.

She said the backpacks come with cups of pasta, juice, milk, and fruit.

Also receiving grants were twelve other agencies addressing a wide variety of needs, including mental health services, education, and historic preservation.

President of the CFO, Gary Funk, says even though the recipients are from varying demographics, the grants carry a common theme.

He said they all go to projects that are engaging, empowering, and educating people in an area that has too much poverty.

The Louis and Dorothy Coover Regional Grantmaking Program is a partnership between Commerce Trust Company and CFO. This year the review panel issuing the grants received 36 applications representing more than $1.3 million in total requested funds.