Community Foundation of the Ozarks

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 .

Stockton STEP (Teen Empowerment Project) and National Honor Society know the youth of Stockton can be a powerful force for a good cause.  They have teamed up to spearhead fundraising to help the Stockton Community Foundation.  The Stockton Community Foundation is working to raise $3,600 to meet the Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge to benefit local food pantries, and the STEP and NHS have committed to raising $700 of that total.   STEP and NHS sold green beads and hat stickers on St. Patrick’s Day and raised $150 toward their goal of $700.  They also challenged other clubs to contribute $50 toward the school goal.  To date, Stockton High School clubs have contributed more than $400.

Additionally, STEP had recently competed in the 60 Second Video Challenge and won $500 for their third place entry.  Students in STEP elected to invest their $500 award into the STEP Endowment Fund.  This endowment fund will eventually produce an income each year for STEP grantmaking.  Congratulations to STEP!

The Stockton Teen Empowerment Project is one of CFO’s 30 Youth Empowerment Project of the Ozarks participants.  To learn more about YEP, visit the YEP section of our website here.

Pictured: STEP receives a $500 grant for their 60 Second Video Challenge entry.

The Stockton Community Foundation announces the creation of three new charitable funds.  Established by the Hammons Products Company, these funds will strengthen charitable support in the Stockton area.  The funds are:

• Hammons Products Company Fund – This corporate grantmaking fund will support Hammons Products Company’s charitable giving.

• Hammons Products Company Benevolence Fund - This field-of-interest fund will help with  emergency needs of company employees and local Stockton residents for such items as medical, transportation, food, clothing, housing, or other needs resulting from a sudden incident such as accident, fire, or tornado

• Stockton Community Leadership Development Fund - This field-of-interest endowment fund will support the development of leadership skills of Stockton citizens serving in community leadership positions, promoting networking, collaboration, and sharing of ideas.  This fund is set up now, ready to accept contributions and make grants once it reaches $10,000, and it will receive future funding support through a planned giving commitment.

Hammons Products Company President and C.E.O. Brian Hammons says the company is pleased to support the work of the Stockton Community Foundation through the establishment of these new funds.  “Thanks to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, our local affiliate foundation has the opportunity to make a real long-term difference in the Stockton community.  We’ve seen some results of that already in recent years.  We plan to keep our black walnut business in Stockton, and I’m excited that we can work with the Foundation in supporting its vision to ‘Build upon our heritage and make tomorrow even better.’”

The number of partnerships between local businesses and communities is expanding throughout the region, according to Winter Skelton, development operations officer for the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.  “We see more and more businesses stepping up and creating charitable funds that make sense for their communities,” Skelton said, “and we truly appreciate the opportunity to partner with Hammons Products Company on these new funds.”

The Stockton Community Foundation was established in 2002, and includes 28 different funds with total charitable assets of approximately $620,000.  Since its inception, the Stockton Community Foundation has given more than $150,000 in charitable grants back to the community.  Ginger Hendrickson is the current president of the Stockton Community Foundation board of directors.

The Stockton Community Foundation is an affiliate of the Springfield-based Community Foundation of the Ozarks.  Started in 1973, CFO has 41 affiliates, 1,700 charitable funds, and total assets of nearly $145 million.  Last year, CFO made $15.7 million in charitable distributions.