Community Foundation of the Ozarks

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is pleased to announce the Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge. Made possible by a $100,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation State Program and a partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest, this program allows CFO affiliate community foundations to raise  dollars that will be matched 1:1 to fight hunger in their local communities. The program will leverage the initial $100,000 gift into $200,000 which will procure $1 million worth of food through Ozarks Food Harvest, the only food bank serving one-third of Missouri.

Twenty-one  affiliates have chosen to participate in this program which was available to those CFO affiliates that fall within Ozarks Food Harvest’s 29-county service area. A complete of list participating affiliates is located at the end of this story.

“It’s only natural that we partner with the Walmart Foundation and CFO since our service areas in this part of the state literally mirror each other,” said Bart Brown, president and CEO of Ozarks Food Harvest.

Hunger challenge funds have been established as component funds of each participating affiliate community foundation. The matching opportunity runs through June 30, 2010.

“The challenging economic environment we’re facing calls for us to identify new resources to help with hunger, and make the existing ones stretch further,” said Brian Fogle, executive vice president of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. “The generous Walmart grant provides the catalyst for our affiliates to raise matching funds, and the strength and connections of Ozarks Food Harvest insure those funds will be used in the most effective manner to address hunger in our Ozarks region.”

This partnership was unveiled following the February 4th announcement of a new landmark hunger study which found that Ozarks Food Harvest is serving 155,000 individuals annually. Ozarks Food Harvest-The Food Bank distributed seven milion pounds of food during its last fiscal year, the highest distribution in its 27-year history. To view the complete study and learn more, please visit ozarksfoodharvest.org.

Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge participating affiliates include:
- Aurora Area Community Foundation
- Bolivar Area Community Foundation
- Cassville Community Foundation
- DACO Community Foundation
- Dallas County Community Foundation
- El Dorado Springs Community Foundation
- Finley River Community Foundation
- Houston Community Foundation
- Jacks Fork Community Foundation
- Marshfield Area Community Foundation
- Mtn. Grove Area Community Foundation
- Nixa Community Foundation
- Oregon County Community Foundation
- Ozark County Community Foundation
- Greater Seymour Area Foundation
- Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri (Carthage & Joplin)
- Stockton Community Foundation
- Table Rock Lake Community Foundation
- Taney County Community Foundation
-  Community Foundation of West Plains

CAPTION: From left to right: Skip Tinney, market manager, Walmart; Sharon Whitehill Gray, president, Nixa Community Foundation & CFO board member; Leigh Hall, Nixa Community Foundation board member; Brian Fogle, CFO; Betty Ann Rogers, Nixa Community Foundation board member; and Bart Brown, president/CEO, Ozarks Food Harvest.

The Bolivar Area Community Foundation recently awarded $5,000 in grants as part of their community grantmaking program. These grants were given to the Polk County Fair Association, Bolivar R-I School District (for Little Liberator Childcare Center, Sunshine Preschool and Care to Learn – Bolivar), Good Samaritan Boys Ranch and the Bolivar Area Ministerial Alliance.Community grantmaking programs are the most tangible way that a community foundation delivers on its mission to enhance the quality of life in our local communities. In 2008, the Bolivar Area Community Foundation, along with 36 other CFO affiliates, participated in the Harry Cooper Supply Company Campaign for the Ozarks. This challenge grant program helped to create support and raise funds for community grantmaking programs. To learn about the program, please visit this link.CFO appreciates the partnership with the Bolivar Area Community Foundation as they foster the spirit of philanthropy and continue to serve the needs of Bolivar and the Polk County area.Caption: Bolivar Area Community Foundation board members present a grant check to Sunshine Preschool representatives. Photo taken by Becky Baker of Community Publishers, Inc.

Congratulations to Don Wollard, Bolivar Area Community Foundation president, for receiving the 32nd annual Bolivar Civic Service Award presented by the Bolivar Rotary Club. Don has been president of the Bolivar Area Community Foundation (BACF) since its inception in 2003. In addition to his service with the BACF, Don was a member of the first Bolivar Leadership team, organized by the Chamber of Commerce. He has also been an active member of the Bolivar Optimist Club, and has done a great deal of mission work though Bolivar’s First Assembly of God, his church. You can read more about the award here.