SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) — Families can find it challenging to ensure their students’ nutrition during the summer months, and The Ozarks Food Harvest has started a campaign to help ease that burden.
The Million Meals Campaign, in partnership with Arvest Bank, provides extra food to families that need assistance during the summer months. The campaign runs through May 31. Ozarks Food Harvest says a $1 donation can provide families with $10 worth of groceries.
With the end of school right around the corner, parents who rely on school meals will soon get relief from local food banks and pantries. Ozarks Food Harvest covers 27 counties, and one of its goals is to help families in rural communities where food deserts are more prevalent.
”That’s the really big problem. It is that we hit those summer months, and we have 1 in 7 kids in southwest Missouri facing hunger right now. So, all of a sudden, they are looking at a gap of about three months where they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. And what we are trying to do as a community is piecemail everything together to make sure these kids get fed, but it is an incredible challenge,” says Jordan Browning with Ozarks Food Harvest.
In addition, through the Care to Learn program, Springfield Public Schools has food pantries at 12 different schools and sponsors a clothing bank at every school in the district.
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