Ozark County Food Pantry needs help: more volunteers, more donations please

The Ozark County Food Pantry needs help. 

Twice a month, this beloved and greatly appreciated local organization distributes nutritious food to Ozark Countians in need of food assistance. Most of the food boxes given out on distribution days contain 30 or more pounds of nutritious groceries, including milk, juice, grains, meats and canned fruits and vegetables. The assortment includes USDA commodities as well as donated and purchased food from the Ozarks Food Harvest charitable network. OCFP also facilitates the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, a federal initiative providing healthy food to low-income adults age 60 and older. 

With groceries, gasoline and other living expenses going up for many residents in the last year or so, the food pantry has served 400 or more households in its latest twice-monthly distributions. That's up about 100 more households than average monthly distributions in the recent past (except for holidays). 

To meet this need, the OCFP is asking for more volunteers to help on distribution days – and also throughout the month, doing jobs like helping unload the Ozark Food Harvest truck when it arrives, or helping sort and place the food after it's unloaded, pushing carts of boxes from the warehouse to the distribution line, helping load the food boxes into vehicles, pushing carts of food from one site to another, or even light cleaning and housework. There are less strenuous jobs for volunteers as well: things like administrative and office work and breaking down boxes for storage (and/or retaping boxes when they're needed a few days later). 

OCFP director Anita Chappell calls the devoted and hard-working food pantry volunteers "the real heroes of this whole thing." And, judging by all the heartfelt "thank yous" that are heard on distribution days, the food-box recipients feel the same way. 

The food pantry operates efficiently according to a well-thought-out work plan based on several years' experience. During the most recent distribution day, Aug. 5, most recipients probably didn't notice because the food boxes were handed out as usual, but behind the scenes, the volunteer team was just half its usual size. That evening, Anita posted this message on the Ozark County Food Pantry's Facebook page: "Thank you for your kindness and patience today! We were only 16 volunteers strong; about half of our usual amount of volunteers."

Most OCFP volunteers are retired men and women, but adults of all ages are welcome. Several older volunteers have resigned in the last few months due to health issues or because they've moved away, Anita said.

USDA guidelines require volunteers to register before beginning work. To learn more about volunteering, call Anita at 417-319-1330, or stop by the food pantry whenever you see her blue mini-van parked alongside the building on Highways 5/160 west of Gainesville's business area. It's on the hillside below the Ozark County Sheriff's Department and across from Chaney Monument. Enter through the east-facing door next to the garage doors.

Anita sends out emails or texts to notify volunteers when help is needed. She has served as OCFP director for 10 years and followed longtime director Tom Bentele, who stepped down as director but still volunteers.

The job Anita dreads

In addition to more volunteers, the food pantry has another need, and it's the only part of her job that Anita dreads. She hates asking for money. But the recent increase in food pantry clients means OCFP has spent more than usual buying extra food from Ozark Food Harvest beyond what the charitable network supplies to area food pantries free of charge. It means the food pantry needs financial support.

"We're spending about $3,000 for food above what they give us," she said. That expense is on top of the food pantry's monthly operating expenses, which includes nearly $400 for electricity during most months to power the food pantry's eight freezers and three refrigerators, among other essentials. Most of the time, except on the very hottest days, that electricity bill doesn't include warehouse air conditioning. It's an added expense Anita and her team of volunteers usually forego; instead, the warehouse has exhaust fans that keep the inside temperatures bearable, if not exactly comfortable. 

The OCFP is overseen by a board of directors, and it's funded by donations from area individuals and organizations. Donations are tax deductible, thanks to the food pantry's affiliation with the Ozark County Ministerial Alliance. And right now, the food pantry needs more of them – more donations to buy the food it distributes to the Ozark County households where it's needed. 

The food from Ozark Food Harvest includes fresh produce and frozen items along with nonperishables. An indication of how much the food is appreciated by the families who receive it is the long line of vehicles that line up super early on distribution days in the roadway that runs down the hill from the east side of the Ozark County Sheriff's Department property. It's not unusual to have cars and pickups start lining up four or five hours before the distribution starts at 9 a.m. That means some residents are in line as early as 4 a.m. 

The food pantry has never run completely out of food to distribute, Anita said, but the fresh produce and other favorite items may be depleted before the last few vehicles roll through the parking lot. 

Anita says generous Ozark County residents and groups keep the food pantry going – and help expand its facilities as needed. Most recently, in a separately funded project, OCFP purchased a used shipping container, the kind transported by semi-trucks. Contributors who helped pay for the $3,000 container included the Ministerial Alliance, Pontiac Frontier Baptist Church, four anonymous donors and Dave and Mary Morrison.

The red, rectangular "box" was placed on the south side of the parking lot. It has no heating or cooling, so it can't be used for any food storage. Instead, it freed up more space for food storage in the main, climate-controlled warehouse building by relocating maintenance equipment, loading machinery and surplus shelving and other storage items. 

The food pantry accepts donations of non-expired canned goods and other non-perishables, but Anita notes that, with cash gifts, OCFP is able to buy groceries through Ozarks Food Harvest at a greater discount than individuals can when shopping in person. Also, she stresses that food left outside the building door cannot be accepted. For more information about donating nonperishable food, contact Anita at 417-319-1330.

To make a donation to this crucial local service, make checks payable to Ozark County Food Pantry and deliver to Rhonda Suter, administrator at the Ozark County Health Department, 370 Third St. in Gainesville. Or mail it to OCHD at P.O. Box 180, Gainesville, MO 65655. Suter serves as a member of the OCFP board. 

Donations may also be sent to the Ozark County Ministerial Alliance account at Century Bank of the Ozarks, P.O. Box 68, Gainesville, MO 65655, or mailed to Ministerial Alliance treasurer Melinda Abraham, 105 Jayhawk Lane, Gainesville, MO 65655.

Fund-raising raffles

This year, the food pantry is sponsoring three fund-raising raffles to help bring in money. The three prizes are a handmade quilt, a large-screen crystal-UHD TV and a Stevens 301 turkey .410 rifle. Tickets for the rifle are $5 each. Tickets for the TV (sponsored, in part, by Thrivent Financial) and quilt (donated by Gary and Linda Smith) are $1 each or six for $5. Raffle tickets will be sold at Piper's Attic booth at Hootin an Hollarin, with the winning tickets drawn on stage Saturday night, Sept. 19.  

If you need food assistance

The Ozark County Food Pantry serves residents who can prove they have an Ozark County address. Other requirements apply, but the application isn't difficult. For more information, contact Anita Chappell at 417-319-1330. 

The next food distribution is from 9 a.m. until noon on Friday, Sept. 18.

Upcoming distribution dates are Sept. 18; Oct. 7 and 16; Nov. 4 and 20; Dec. 9 and 18; and Jan. 6 and 22, 2027. Food is given out from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on the first distribution date of each month, and from 9 a.m. until noon on the second distribution day.