Putting the Ozarks First supports local food pantry

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Through our Putting the Ozarks First Food Drive, Ozarks Food Harvest (OFH) is able to take donations and distribute them to food pantries in the area. One of those pantries is Crosslines with the Council of Churches of the Ozarks.

Crosslines says 80% of the food in their pantry comes from OFH. Nathan Mortensen Food Programming Director at Crosslines says they put in an order with OFH for things like eggs, milk, and fresh produce, items that are difficult to get without an organization like OFH.

Mortensen says Crosslines is helping over 100 families on any given day and sometimes it is closer to 200.

"What we're seeing this year are families likely who have never needed help before," Nathan Mortensen Food Programming Director at Crosslines said. "That all of a sudden due to, you know, inflation or whatever the circumstances are needing help for the very first time."

Mortensen says he hopes people facing food insecurities can leave Crosslines with some hope, and serving those people wouldn't be possible without volunteers.

"It takes 30 plus volunteers just to run our food pantry for one day," Mortensen said. "And so as you stretch that out through the month and through the year, I mean, there are thousands of hours of volunteer hours that go into making something like this possible."