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More people than ever before are in need of food assistance here in the Ozarks. So, Ozarks Food Harvest has partnered with two area organizations to address that need. KSMU’s Michele Skalicky has more…
A study conducted in the spring of 2009 looked at the trends and conditions of those living in hunger. Hunger in America 2010 interviewed 61,000 people receiving food assistance from Feeding America’s network of food banks nationwide.Approximately 329 clients from selected Ozarks Food Harvest program sites offered to share their stories. Bart Brown is CEO of Ozarks Food Harvest…
"The most startling thing that this story revealed to us is that, while we had projected that we would be serving 65,000 people by the end of this fiscal year because of the recession, we actually were serving 155,000 people as of April 2009. That number's gone up."
According to Brown, 78% of clients are below the poverty level. And he says it’s a new kind of client driving the increased numbers. Among those working or who have worked in the past year, 22% have had managerial or professional jobs…
"This was something that made my blood run cold because I didn't realize the extent of how many people are seeking food assistance."
Brown says the increasing need has blown their goals out of the water and forced them to seek new solutions.The latest attempt to raise funds to meet the food needs of people in the Ozarks stems from a $100,000 gift from the Walmart Foundation State Giving Program.The money will be used for challenge grant opportunities for 21 Community Foundation of the Ozarks affiliates in Ozarks Food Harvest’s 29-county service area. It’s being dubbed “The Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge.”Brian Fogle is senior vice-president for CFO…
"Community Foundation of the Ozarks has the affiliate network in the local communities, which are great at developing local resources to meet their local needs."
Bart Brown says they likely haven’t seen the extent yet of the need for food assistance here in the Ozarks. He says things will likely get worse before they get better...
"I don't think we've seen the bottom of this yet. We're not seeing people hire people right now. We're seeing more people get laid off, so as unemployment continues to rise we're going to see these numbers come up, and that's why we've really got to be proactive about raising food and funds to meet this need."
Brown says it will take roughly 9 million dollars and an additional 10 million dollars of food over the next three years to meet Ozarks Food Harvest’s goals.He hopes the Ozarks Million Dollar Challenge will be the beginning of even more efforts to raise money to feed hungry people in the Ozarks.For KSMU News, I’m Michele Skalicky.
