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.

• Seymour is FAMOUS! The Daily Yonder, an Austin, Texas-based blog that showers love on all things rural, picked up our story about the great work of the Greater Seymour Area Foundation, as well as the accompanying video by Brandon Goodwin. You can read the Yonder’s post here. It’s a wonderful showcase for one of the strongest communities around.

• Small Towns, Big Accomplishments. Education Week, a national education site, last week  featured not one but two interesting posts by Diette Courrege:

The first story was about the Center for Midwestern Initiatives, which grew out of our own Rural Schools Partnership and is being established in conjunction with the Rural School and Community Trust by former CFO president Gary Funk.

The second report was all about the unprecedented success of the aforementioned Rural Schools Partnership and the funds established and grants distributed for rural schools in southern Missouri.

Story of Seymour from CF Ozarks on Vimeo.

Dr. Ron Giedd likes to tell people how he and his wife, Joanne, moved to Seymour, Missouri, in 1992 after firing a dart at a United States map.

The story is pure malarkey, but coming from the usually disheveled and grinning Giedd, his eyes twinkling, you are almost ready to buy it. Giedd is one of our favorite things about Seymour, along with its wonderful local newspaper, the Webster County Citizen. He tries hard to be a “character,” but he is in reality an extremely intelligent and thoughtful retired physics professor from the University of Connecticut, who moved to this small Ozarks’ community of 2,000 because of nearby relatives.

Giedd and the Greater Seymour Area Foundation are an inspiration to every small community. That’s why Giedd, current GSAF President Janice Blankenship, and other board and community members  are featured  in a new video the CFO produced to show that, yes, philanthropy can be very successful even in  small communities that don’t have a lot of wealthy family or institutional benefactors.

People often tease Ron about the “Greater” adjective, asking him if the old rail stop Diggins, six miles to the west, is Seymour’s largest suburb.  However, the adjective Greater is appropriate—not for geography, but for effort.  Due to the tireless work of Giedd and his successor, Janice Blankenship, to educate and engage, the Greater Seymour Area Foundation has established 42 charitable funds, started a local arts council, initiated a family literacy program, renovated an historic building on the square, and accumulated total endowment assets of nearly $1.5 million—all of this in 13 years of existence, and in a working-class community with its share of rural poverty.  With planned giving commitments already in the pipeline, this grassroots community foundation will play a pivotal role in the future of Seymour and its surrounding neighborhoods.

Giedd finds collaboration integral to the process of building a rural community foundation, and he insisted on patience from his fellow board colleagues.

“It just takes time,” he says.  “People have to understand that building a strong community foundation will not happen immediately.  That is why we have worked so hard to involve everyone in the community—because patience only follows trust.”

One of the foundation’s latest projects is an example of how Giedd and his board colleagues have brought community groups together.  Vision 2026 was an ambitious idea brought forward by the Greater Seymour Area Foundation board of directors.  At its heart was the notion that Seymour would be better served if the community had a clear sense of what it wanted to be 20 years down the road.

Taking a page from Nebraska’s Heartland Center for Leadership Development playbook, Vision 2026 was a daunting project for a town with a small city staff, lean school administrative team, and an all-volunteer community foundation.  Still, by taking time to plan, and by ensuring that all sectors of the community were involved, the Vision 2026 leadership committee was able to procure project funding, hire a consultant, conduct a community-wide survey, and produce a report that should guide city planning for years to come.  In addition to its community-wide benefits, the effort has tangible good outcomes for the local community foundation.  First, it positions the foundation as a visionary leader in the community, and, second, the completed report provides the foundation with a good tool to focus its community grants program.  The end result is a stronger community and a stronger community foundation.  Within two years, Seymour’s Vision 2026 had led to the construction of a community storm shelter, a new fire station, and sidewalk reconstruction around the square.

Blankenship describes her partnership with Giedd as one where he brings the brains and she brings the brawn. That sells them both short, but she’s continued his advocacy with an annual auction of hundreds of donated items, active grantmaking, a successful fall dinner and support for a busy youth philanthropy chapter that this year produced its first member named to the affiliate board.

These kinds of collaborative efforts are on the cutting edge of what experts think are the key future roles of rural community foundations.  The recent Ford Foundation report, “On the Brink of New Promise,” specifically highlights the concept of shifting from “competitive independence to coordinated impact.”

The authors write, “community foundations cannot rethink their own strategic roles without developing a deeper understanding of how they fit into the larger network of community philanthropy organizations and vendors.”  While other organizations or institutions can accomplish this to some degree, community foundations are positioned to do this best.  “Free from electoral cycles and bottom-line pressures,” the report finds, “community foundations can capitalize on their independence by demonstrating their interdependence.”

Ron Giedd intuitively understood this concept all along. His closely held wisdom was only betrayed by a wink.  And Seymour, Missouri, is all the better for it.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is again teaming up with Ozarks Food Harvest and the Walmart State Giving Program to tackle the chronic hunger problems that affect our region.

The 2^nd Annual Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge kicked off at a news conference at Ozarks Food Harvest today. The Walmart Foundation State Giving Program pledged a $125,000 grant toward a 1:1 match with regional food pantries served by Ozarks Food Harvest.

The participating food pantries were selected in 27 communities that have CFO affiliate foundations so that those foundations could offer fundraising support, community grantmaking awards or other types of assistance to partner with their local food banks.

“This is a great way to address hunger across one-third of the state of Missouri using a great trio of partners,” OFH President and CEO Bart Brown said.

He also discussed a new analysis of local “food insecurity” levels that support anecdotal information and a 2010 Hunger Study. The analysis shows that many people facing “food insecurity” have income and/or resources that make them ineligible for assistance programs. Many of them are people who have lost jobs, but still have homes or cars that count as assets.

“More and more clients who come to food pantries are the unemployed middle class who need assistance,” Brown said. “Technically, they’re not poor, but they don’t have any money.”

Through Ozarks Food Harvest’s buying program, the $250,000 in potential funds from the challenge grant and matching funds will leverage about $1 million worth, or 2.5 million pounds, of food for the participating pantries, food banks and mobile food banks.

The first Million Dollar Hunger Challenge was completed last year when 19 CFO affiliates raised $105,000, which was matched with $100,000 from the Walmart State Foundation.

CFO President Brian Fogle said this represents another example where charitable dollars are filling the gaps created by decreased public funding at all levels. He said this model works well because it directly serves residents in the communities where the money will be raised.

“That is philanthropy at its best,” Fogle said.

Becky Wood, Walmart’s Senior Foundation Manager from Bentonville, Ark., said the company’s State Giving Councils are comprised of local associates who determine the best use of foundation resources for  their states.

“It’s great to be a partner with you in Springfield,” she said.

At a recent Ozarks Food Harvest Mobile Pantry in Joplin, 150 people received eggs, cheese, meat, bread, cereal, Gatorade, and snack foods to feed their families

CFO affiliates raised $105,000 and received $100,000 in matching funds from the Walmart State Foundation to fight chronic hunger in their communities.

A total of 19 affiliates successfully completed the Challenge Grant, which is being channeled primarily through the Ozarks Food Harvest, which has a 28-county service area that largely mirrors the CFO’s region.

The CFO affiliates that completed the Hunger Challenge are: Aurora, Bolivar, Cassville, DACO (Dade County), Dallas County, El Dorado Springs, Finley River (Ozark area), Houston, Jacks Fork, Southwest Missouri (Carthage-Joplin area), Marshfield, Nixa, Oregon County, Seymour, Stockton, Table Rock Lake, Taney County, and West Plains.

The Wal-Mart State Foundation State Giving Program selected the Ozarks Food Harvest for its challenge grant program last year, which began in response to the 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.

For more information, see the full  Hunger Challenge news release .

Congratulations to the Greater Seymour Area Foundation for recently awarding more than $3,000 in grants to the Seymour area during their community grant round.  The grants presented at the February 23^rd event were as follows:

Ozarks Family YMCA – Seymour Branch, $399
Seymour Head Start, $692
Friends of the Library, $500
American Legion Auxiliary Unit 306, $130
Accelerated Reader Program, $500
Seymour Senior Citizens Center, $500
Regional Outreach Christian Center, $300

Congratulations to the GSAF for their continued work in the Seymour region! To view more information on GSAF, please visit their webpage, here.

PHOTO: GSAF President Janice Blankenship addresses board members and grant recipients at the event.

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 Seymour Youth Empowerment Project recently made a grant to the Seymour High School YEP to help fund the annual Project Graduation event. Pictured is Sharlett Tiburcio of the Seymour YEP presenting the check to the Seymour Project Graduation committee. The funds will help pay for a safe and healthy lock-in for the senior class following their graduation ceremony. Congratulations to the Seymour YEP for continually raising funds and granting them to quality youth-oriented programs!

As part of their Cooper Campaign efforts, the GSAF reached out and worked with community leaders in Mansfield and Norwood to establish the Mansfield/Norwood Community Fund. Businesses in those towns raised more than $10,000 to create this community grantmaking fund. The Cooper Campaign matched $10,000 for the Mansfield/Norwood Community Fund.

The Harry Cooper Supply Company Campaign for the Ozarks is a dollar for dollar challenge grant in partnership with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks that is part of an overall regional effort to enhance community grantmaking endowments, establish administrative/operations endowments, and promote appropriate and best practices by community foundation board of directors. This initiative is made possible through the generosity of the Harry Cooper Supply Company.

Top photo: Gary Funk, CFO president (right) presents a check to leaders from the GSAF representing the Cooper Campaign matching funds.
Bottom photo: Gary Funk presents a check to Joe Coday, right, representing the matching funds for the Mansfield/Norwood Community Fund.