Community Foundation of the Ozarks

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.

Lockwood board members in attendance (L-R): Renee Galer, Fred Lemons, LaRue Lemons, Orvel Cooper, Roger Whaley and Ella Whaley

On Thursday, July 21 CFO staff, along with volunteers and donors from the Dade County community of Lockwood, celebrated the Lockwood Community Foundation reaching the landmark threshold of $1 million in assets. Affectionately known as “Million Dollar Babies”, Lockwood joins 13 other CFO affiliates in the $1 million-plus category (a full list is at the bottom of this post).

The Lockwood Community Foundation will receive a $500 Unrestricted President’s Grant for reaching the milestone.

CFO president Brian Fogle opened the luncheon, held at Lockwood’s Roy E. Carr American Legion Post, with a few words, followed by a delicious lunch of beef brisket, potatoes, green beans, salad, bread and blackberry cobbler. Afterwards, Fogle thanked the Lockwood volunteers, donors and board, particularly foundation stalwarts and co-founders Fred and LaRue Lemons, for doing very big things in a small town.

“One million is a huge achievement for anybody,” Fogle said. “You’re successful because of people like you, who want to make a difference and want to leave something behind.”

Fred LaRue – who is currently board president – then honored the board members in attendance, and shared some of the story of the foundation’s origins.

“We were going to try and do it ourselves,” he said. “But someone told me ‘You don’t want to get mixed up with a bunch of lawyers …  it’ll take years!’.”

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks congratulates and thanks the Lockwood community for its support and hard work. Learn more about the Lockwood Community Foundation here.

Here’s a complete list of CFO affiliates with more than $1 million in assets:

Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc.
Taney County Community Foundation
Aurora Area Community Foundation
Willow Springs Community Foundation
Dent County Community Foundation
Nixa Community Foundation
Table Rock Lake Community Foundation
Crawford County Community Foundation
Greater Seymour Area Foundation
Monett Area Community Foundation
Community Foundation of West Plains, Inc.
Bolivar Area Community Foundation
Lockwood Community Foundation
Finley River Community Foundation

The 2011 conference for the CFO’s affiliate foundations offered a variety of topics and information for more than 60 presidents and board members who came to Springfield last week.

CFO President Brian Fogle offered a perspective on rural community development aimed at reinforcing the affiliates’ roles as leaders and community builders.

Three breakout sessions on board development, fund development and marketing/communications were designed to share practical ideas and goals for the key topics identified at last conference when the affiliates focused on strategic planning.

A lunchtime panel discussion highlighted successful event planning and fundraising ideas, including tips on making the events both safe and successful.

The CFO’s Carol Silvey continued the “friendraising” training she began during the fall regional meetings with affiliates. And Brian Fogle wrapped up the conference by celebrating the CFO’s recent milestone of $100 million in grantmaking and distributions back to our communities. He also congratulated four affiliates that have recently achieved the $1 million milestone in assets – the Aurora Area Community Foundation, the Finley River Community Foundation, the Lockwood Community Foundation, and the West Plains Community Foundation.