HUNGERTHON™ 2010

Ozarks Food Harvest and Clear Channel Radio’s Alice@95.5 FM’s 12th annual radiothon—HUNGERTHON—collected a grand total of $121,713 for The Food Bank’s Weekend Backpack Program™. The program provides severely at-risk children with a backpack filled with nutritious child-friendly foods for them to take home over the weekends.

Alice@95.5 personalities Kevin Howard and Liz Delany again hosted HUNGERTHON, which began Friday, June 4 at 6 am outside of the historic Tower Theater at Glenstone and Sunshine in Springfield, and ended Monday, June 7 at 11 am. Those involved spent close to 30 hours throughout the weekend raising money for Ozarks Food Harvest.

This year’s goal of $120,000 was exceeded, providing just over 400 students with Weekend Backpack Program™ backpacks. The Musgrave Foundation donated the final $10,000 to HUNGERTHON in order for The Food Bank and Alice@95.5 to meet this year’s goal. As the top donor, the foundation was awarded St. Louis Cardinals tickets for the Diamond Box at Busch Stadium, courtesy of Bank of America. According to the foundation manager, Jerry Redfern, the tickets will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club – Musgrave Unit.

Several backpacks were matched by Commerce Bank, the Matt Miller Company, Kenny & Mary Ross, KPM CPAs, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railways, US Bancorp, Bank of America, Leslie Peck of Peck’s Insurance & Financial Services, Inc., MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, Penmac and The Daily Events.

The Springfield Independent Restaurant Association again donated several gift cards that were offered as incentives to donors. All Power Hour sponsors included Coyote’s Adobe Café (in Springfield and Nixa), Maria’s, Big Whiskey’s, Great Southern, Backyard Burgers, Springfield Brewing Company, Mille’s, Black Oak Mountain Amphitheatre, Showboat Branson Belle, White Water, Bank of America, Crusin USA, Family Pharmacy, Springfield Little Theater, Sonic, Avanzare, Silver Dollar City, Bob Evans, Rapid Roberts and Patton Alley Pub. Other donors included Backyard Burgers, Bank of America, Cruisin USA, Bob Evans, The Coffee Ethic and Ozarks Coca-Cola Dr. Pepper. The HUNGERTHON 2010 logo was designed by Martha Hartley of Running Horse Design.

If community members were unable to participate in the community-wide event, Bank of America is hosting a food drive for Ozarks Food Harvest beginning June 7 at all Bank of America branches. Verizon Wireless will host a food drive during the month of June starting June 11. Visit ozarksfoodharvest.org for a complete listing of the most needed food items. For more information call (417) 865-3411.

Click the links below to view coverage of the event:

http://www.ky3.com/news/local/95784994.html

http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=278425

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20100608/NEWS01/6080336/Hungerthon-gets--121-700-for-Ozark-Food-Harvest-s-Weekend-Backpack-Program

To browse event photos, become a fan of Ozarks Food Harvest on Facebook in order to view the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/kolrksfx#!/album.php?aid=240849&id=10976828205

http://www.alice955.com/cc-common/gallery/display.html?album_id=234358