Bixler Foundation – David and Julie Bixler established this family and community fund to assist with their personal giving.

Bluebird Gardens Charitable Fund – This corporate fund was estalsihed by Charlotte Wiggins, manager of Bluebird Gardens, to assist with the charitable giving. This is a component fund of the Meramec Regional Community Foundation.

Brell Family Charitable Fund – Dr. and Mrs. Brell established this fund as part of their estate plan. Upon their passing, it will distribute per their wishes with 20 percent staying at the CFO for children’s healthcare needs and to other child-related charities in Springfield/Greene County.

The Dustin Scholarship Fund – Bailey Simpson established this scholarship fund to assist students in the foster care system pursue a post-secondary education. Bailey is 16 and is a Central High School student. She plans to fundraise toward the $10,000 goal.

Healthy Half Pints Fund – This fund will begin a pilot program to provide kindergarteners and first graders at four elementary schools with an afternoon milk snack. A joint effort by CFO, Musgrave Foundation, North Point Church and the Pendleton Family Foundation.

Kansas City Chiefs Joplin Recovery Fund – This corporate fund allows the Kansas City Chiefs to make grants to organizations helping to support Joplin tornado recovery efforts. This is a component fund of the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri.

LakeExpo.com Charitable Fund – Brent Simpson, owner of LakeExpo.com, established this corporate fund to help simplify his company’s charitable activities. This is a component fund of the Community Foundation of the Lake.

Rieder Family Fund – Larry & Kathie Rieder established this family and community fund to assist with their family’s giving. This is a component fund of the Stockton Community Foundation.

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 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 .

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.

• 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.

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 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.

“Our firm has truly enjoyed working in these communities. We appreciate the opportunity to do business in the region, and the Cooper challenge program is a great way for Hood-Rich to give back to each community,” said Mr. Hood. Hood-Rich, Inc. has been providing architectural, engineering, surveying, and interior design services to the Missouri Ozarks since 1961.

Businesses of all sizes have worked with Community Foundation of the Ozarks or one of the 40 regional affiliate foundations to give something back to their community. Because donations to unrestricted grantmaking funds and operational endowments are being matched through the Harry Cooper Supply Company Campaign for the Ozarks through the end of the year, it’s a great time for Ozarks business to get involved.

The donations from Hood and the $1 million commitment from the Harry Cooper Supply Company came through donor advised funds. These types of funds offer businesses of any size or individuals an effective way to create and administer a grantmaking program that meets their charitable objectives. Corporate charitable funds provide businesses another route for charitable giving.

Some of the key benefits of creating a corporate charitable fund with CFO include: sound charitable fund management, access to foundation resources, and participation in important foundation initiatives, such as the Harry Cooper Supply Company Campaign for the Ozarks.

Click on the following links for more information about the types of funds available to businesses and individuals and ways of giving.