Community Foundation of the Ozarks

Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a $1.5 million grant to the Joplin Recovery Fund, administered by the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc., and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, to promote recovery efforts following the May 22 tornado.

Created in 1937, the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment concentrates most of its grantmaking in its home state of Indiana, but it also has a long history of supporting relief efforts after other natural disasters.

“Watching the devastation wrought by the May 22 tornado that struck Joplin was wrenching and saddening,” said N. Clay Robbins, president of the Endowment. “The scars may never disappear, but homes can be rebuilt and quality of life restored. The Endowment is pleased to be able to help the community foundation in these efforts.”

The CFO, and its largest affiliate, the Joplin-based Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc., created the Joplin Recovery Fund on May 23 to focus on mid- to long-term recovery  through grantmaking to non-profit agencies, particularly in areas where philanthropy can address needs not covered through government funding or private resources.

The Lilly Endowment funds will initially be applied to an upcoming grant cycle that will focus specifically on developing affordable housing to help more tornado survivors return to permanent homes, CFSWMO Board President Lisa Knutzen said.

Full details of this grant cycle, including the total amount available, eligibility guidelines and application process, will be announced in January. (more…)

CFO affiliates and their local food programs completed the Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge II this fall by raising $125,000 to match an equivalent challenge grant from the Walmart State Giving Foundation to Ozarks Food Harvest.

In all, 23 of the CFO’s 44 affiliates participated in the Hunger Challenge, which leverages the total of $250,000 at a 10:1 ratio of buying, transporting and distributing food through the OFH network of feeding programs and pantries.

The Walmart State Giving Foundation awarded a $125,000 grant to Ozarks Food Harvest for a second challenge opportunity earlier this year after last year’s success with a $100,000 grant for the original Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge.

In this year’s Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge II, 25 food programs across the region worked with the 23 CFO affiliates to raise matching funds by the end of September.

Grant presentations, shown in the gallery below, have been made with affiliate and food program leaders in a number of the communities over the past month. The participating affiliates were: Aurora, Bolivar, Cassville, DACO, Dallas, Dent, El Dorado Springs, Finley River, Houston, Jacks Fork, Lockwood, Marshfield, Monett, Mount Vernon, Mountain Grove, Neosho, Nixa, Oregon County, Seymour, Stockton, Southwest Missouri, Taney County and West Plains.

“We appreciate the cooperative spirit between our affiliate foundations and their local food pantries to jointly tackle this matching grant opportunity,” CFO President Brian Fogle said.

This program began in response to a national report  – “Hunger in America 2010” – describing the extent to which hunger plagues Ozarks communities. An estimated 155,000 Ozarkers face chronic hunger issues, according to the report.

“We are grateful for the funding from the Walmart State Giving Program which allows us to leverage hunger relief support to our local Ozarks communities,” said Bart Brown, CEO at Ozarks Food Harvest.

“There’s a growing population of clients who are not eligible for government assistance such as WIC or the National School Lunch Program. This ‘gap’ truly relies on our member pantries and feeding sites to help feed their families,” Brown said. “The current child food insecurity rate is sobering. More than a quarter of our children — five percent higher than the national rate — now face hunger, or do not know where their next meal is coming from.”

Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving more than 300 hunger relief organizations across 28 Ozarks counties in addition to long-term relief sites in Joplin. The Food Bank reaches 20,000 individuals weekly and distributes one million pounds of food monthly. OFH was named the 2011 Small Business of the Year by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org and at facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest.

The Willard Children’s Charitable Foundation celebrated its annual Fall Harvest Gathering last weekend with a review of its support for kids over the year, which will be boosted by more than $3,500 in additional funds raised at the event.

Participants enjoyed a hot dog and hamburger dinner, live and silent auctions and entertainment by the Willard High School Ensemble Band.

Dr. Rhonda Bishop, Principal of Willard Orchard Hills Elementary, presented the WCCF with a check for $800 from part of the proceeds from the school’s 2^nd annual “Run for the Orchard 5K”.  Earlier this fall, the Willard Band passed the bucket at a home football game and raised $905 for the WCCF.

The mission of the Willard Children’s Charitable Foundation is to raise, manage, and distribute funds to benefit the children and the future generations of the Willard community and school district.

Funds were pledged and distributed in the past year in support of:

• $6,000 in scholarships to eight deserving Willard graduates;
• Intensive psychological testing for several needy children;
• Dental, medical and vision examinations and therapies for several children; and
• Health-related equipment, including iPads with specialized apps for children with disabilities, for use by district schools.

Congratulations to the WCCF board and all the volunteers and donors who make this great work possible on behalf of kids in Willard.