“We’re putting that call out there to remind everyone that hunger is a problem year-round. So we still need your help to get this food through our distribution center and out into southwest Missouri where we are helping to feed our neighbors,” said Sarah Byrd, volunteer program director with Ozarks Food Harvest.
Volunteers can be of any age and come alone or as a group. They want to fill their weekday afternoon slots, which are primarily three hours long. Therefore, you will be on your feet and do some light lifting.
“We have our sort and repack sessions, so that’s sorting our retail donations that come into the distribution center. Those come from grocers or local food producers. So that’s items like dry shelf-stable products, fridge products, frozen products, and they’re sorting that food for quality and food safety and then repacking it for general food distribution. Then we have what we call our build projects, which are for our weekend backpack program and our senior boxes, and that’s an assembly-line style project where volunteers are packing food that will then go out to either those children in need or seniors in the area,” said Byrd.
Ozarks Food Harvest is experiencing increased need after the holiday season, so it really relies on volunteers to help pack a hundred thousand pounds of food each week. It needs about 40 volunteers a day.
“If we didn’t have these volunteers, we would have to hire 15 to 18 more full-time staff members to keep up with distribution. So we absolutely need them, and we’re happy to accommodate them in any way that we can,” said Byrd.
Not only does volunteering benefit the community, but it can also benefit the volunteers.
“Not only is it a tangible way that they can give back to their community, but it benefits them as well. Countless mental health and general health benefits to people who are volunteering. There’s a social aspect, which a lot of us miss out on this time of year as well, so it gets them out of the house, interacting with others, and giving back to the community, which is just a really great way to improve our community across the board,” said Byrd.
If you’re interested in volunteering, you can learn more and sign up here.
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Volunteer Ozarks: Ozarks Food Harvest
Full video and story: Ozarks Food Harvest looking for volunteers to help with increased demand