November 2018
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Fall Meeting Grows Inspiration
iven the up and down weather we have experienced in the last few weeks, it is hard to believe we had such a perfect fall day during the Regional Meeting at the garden in early October. All four regions came together at the Ozarks Food Harvest Home Garden, located just outside of Rogersville. Twenty four individuals from 14 different agencies and representing 10 counties were in attendance. The meeting was hosted by Ozarks Food Harvests’ own Master Gardner, Full Circle Garden Program Coordinator Alexa Poindexter and Full Circle Garden Assistant Rob Medlen. Attendees were given a tour of the grounds which include 76 raised garden beds, two high tunnels, and a 30x30 field patch. While some might think the garden season would be wrapping up, the Full Circle Garden Team had a variety of growing projects still underway. From this garden alone, 10,582 pounds have been harvested from a variety of fruits and vegetables, such as radishes, carrots, various lettuces, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onions, beets, green beans, potatoes, and spinach. The Full Circle Garden Team and an annual group of volunteers also harvest crops from other gardens in the area, including the Victory Gardens, Fassnight Creek Farms, Millsap Farm, Lewis Family Garden, Burton Farms, and the list keeps growing. This hardworking group of volunteers has harvested nearly 40,000 pounds of food this year!
IN THIS ISSUE
Agencies listen to Alexa Poindexter talk at the OFH Garden
During the meeting, Alexa stressed the importance of three main factors for first time gardeners. The first, making sure to build a team around you. “Everyone wants to get the garden started, but when it’s 100° outside and you don’t have a committed team to help you get the job done, the garden will struggle,” Alexa told the group. The second major factor in the likelihood of having a successful garden is making sure to have a water source near your garden. Nobody wants to carry buckets and buckets of water to the garden every day during the summer months if there is not a water source nearby. The third factor is location, location, location. For first time gardeners, if you can have your garden close to your facility, as opposed to miles away from your kitchen or pantry, you will be more
OFH Inclement Weather Policy Holiday Delivery changes Is SNAP fraud a problem? Garden Highlights
likely to tend to it regularly. All three of these factors can be met by first starting a straw bale garden. If you would like information on straw bale gardens, Alexa would be more than happy to share some tips! Overall, the meeting was a great way to network and brainstorm with other kitchens and pantries, who are also interested in gardening. We hope that all who attended were inspired to either expand existing gardens, reach out to partner with outside organizations to grow their garden programs, or begin a first time garden. Either way, Alexa left one final thought, “please get connected, share your resources, partner with outside organizations, develop teams, and have fun!” Happy planting!
Help keep our drivers safe! Due to the amount of deliveries OFH has scheduled, we will make every attempt to continue our deliveries during inclement weather. If a delivery occurs, please make sure all sidewalks and parking lots have been cleared of ice or snow. This will help the driver better maneuver the parking lot and keep him/her safe! Also, please be patient. Your normal delivery time may be delayed, due to the road conditions. We will do our best to inform you if, and when, a delivery may be extremely late, so you can inform your volunteers. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday
season!
Winter storm streets
OFH Inclement Weather Policy
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he Food Bank no longer follows the Springfield Public School closing policy. It is now the policy of Ozarks Food Harvest to remain open during most periods of inclement weather. However, where extraordinary circumstances may exist, such as severe weather, we may delay the first pickup appointments or even close the facility. Should this occur, the Food Bank will notify agencies expecting a delivery or a scheduled pick-up appointment
that a cancellation will be made and/or rescheduled. Also, in the event of inclement weather rescheduling, it is extremely important OFH has correct contact information for the people responsible for receiving the delivery. To verify this information, please go to your online account to MY AGENCY and check the CONTACTS listed in your agency profile and notify member services if any information needs to be updated.
Delivery Changes Made for the Holidays
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s a reminder, The Food Bank has made adjustments to some of the delivery routes in November, December and January, due to The Food Bank’s holiday hours. If your agency’s delivery falls on one of the following days, an alternative delivery day has been set: November 22 and 23, December 24, 25 and
January 1. It is extremely important that you check your email (daily, if possible)! Advance notices have been sent, so you can inform your staff and volunteers of the change(s) and plan accordingly. We don’t anticipate any additional changes, unless inclement weather says otherwise. If you have any questions concerning your revised delivery day, please
notify Member Services immediately. Changes have also been made to the pickup schedule. The last appointments on November 21, December 21, and on December 31 will be 10:30. Please plan, accordingly.
DID YOU KNOW? That when placing an order for a delivery, selecting a specific time will not affect the time of your delivery. The software system The Food Bank uses makes you “select” a time [from the drop down box] when placing an order; however, we do not look at the time selected when processing the order. Why? The Food Bank has already created the routes. You can imagine what would happen if we allowed everyone on delivery to select a time they would like their order delivered. [Yikes!] Please share this information with your staff and volunteers; especially, the person responsible for ordering.
TEFAP corner
Good News!
By now you have either received fresh milk through The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or it’s on the way! As mentioned in an email sent August 28, 2018, milk will be provided October 2018 through March 2019. We are excited to be getting this type of product, but also realize this may create a challenge for some of you. We are handling this fresh item like all other TEFAP products and allocating, accordingly. The Food Bank knows everyone’s capacity to receive and distribute, so we will contact you in advance, if we foresee any issues. In the meantime, we hope your TEFAP clients enjoy! On another note, please make sure you have a copy of the FD-6 (TEFAP agreement between your agency and The Food Bank) on file. This document should be signed by your agency and The Food Bank and should be easily accessible, in the event of a review. If the copy you have on hand is not signed, please let member services know. If you don’t have a copy, please notify member services immediately, as well.
Director Q & A
Jerod Morey Q: How long have you been Executive Director at AOK/Nathan’s Place? A: I began work with AOK in 2004 and was promoted to ED in 2010 Q: What led you to working at AOK? A: I always wanted to work with youth. My initial goal was to be a probation/ parole officer. Once I interned however, I realized I wanted to work on the prevention side of youth. I realized I wanted to put my efforts into prevention rather than being reactive or punititive. AOK focuses on positive youth development through prevention education and resources. If we can prevent youth from making unhealthy life choices then I believe we are making a positive impact on our youth culture. Q: What part of this job do you personally find most satisfying? A: Being a positive role model/ example to our youth. Letting youth know and see that life isn’t always like reality tv, a song or as media portrays it. Q: Most challenging? A: Witnessing so many negative issues our youth face. Our youth are challenged with such negativity and challenges that are so unfair. My goal is to be there as a mentor, resource and safe person youth can trust and rely on. Q: What is your most memorable moment [at AOK]?
CONTACT US Ozarks Food Harvest Member Services 2810 N. Cedarbrook Ave. Springfield, Mo., 65803 memberservices@ ozarksfoodharvest.org (417) 380-5007 ozarksfoodharvest.org
A: Receiving those THANK YOU’s and calls from youth I have worked with who now have families of their own. Knowing we have made a difference is so rewarding and validates what we are doing is right. Q: What do you like to do in your spare time? A: My family and I (Elisha, Ellistin and Jagger) show livestock competitively around the country. Most every weekend we are on the road to a show somewhere. And, for fun… Q: What the craziest thing you’ve ever done? A: Bungee jumped Q: What are you grateful for? A: The positive people, my family and friends, in my life that support me in all my crazy endeavors
How big of a problem is SNAP fraud? The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud in three different ways: when SNAP benefits are exchanged for cash, when a client lies to receive benefits, or when a retailer exchanges cash for benefits. Fraud claims are also separated into one of three categories: intentional program violation (lying to receive benefits), inadvertent household error (unintentional mistake made by the client) or agency error (mistake caused by the Department of Social Services). According to the latest Missouri State Auditor’s Office report, there were 1,705 claims of fraud established in Missouri in 2016. Of those, only 861 were filed as
SAVE THE DATE
intentional program violations. To put this information in a broad context, 389,241 households received food stamp benefits in Missouri in 2016. Therefore, by dividing the total households that received benefits by the number of intentional program violations, estimates show that only 0.25 percent of households receiving food stamp benefits in 2016 intentionally committed fraud in Missouri. The Auditor’s report also shows that total fraud claims have dropped nearly 32 percent from 2011 to 2016. For more information, visit the Missouri State Auditor website.
The Ozarks Food Harvest Agency Conference
APRIL 22, 2019
the Ozarks very own Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. These catalogs can serve as inspiration as well as provide many important tips for making next season’s harvests even better. Sketch up ideas and garden layouts, talk to neighbors about planting extra for your agency and connect with plant-related businesses and greenhouses to see how you can partner for the upcoming year. We hope you were able to join us for the Regional Meeting at the Ozarks Food Harvest Home Garden in October. We so enjoyed sharing the garden with you all and encouraging you in your own garden and fresh produce pursuits. Please reach out to Alexa Poindexter (apoindexter@ ozarksfoodharvest.org), Full Circle Gardens Coordinator, for any garden-related questions or to receive garden planning support and seeds. MINI ROMAINE LETTUCE FROM THE OFH HOME GARDEN
OFH Home Garden Highlights
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espite a very hot, dry summer, the OFH Glean Team has already broken their own harvest record by picking and distributing over 35,000 pounds of local produce so far this year. Special thanks to Lewis Family Garden, Fassnight Creek Farm, Burton Family Farm, Millsap Farm and Second Baptist Church’s Victory Garden for allowing gleans this spring and summer. Backyard growers have also made a huge impact on fighting hunger by donating thousands of pounds of excess produce from their own home gardens. The OFH Home Garden and several of our partnering farms and gardens still have produce in the ground as we try to squeeze in
some more growing time outdoors. Our high tunnels are planted out with lettuce, carrots, spinach, kale and cabbage for overwintering crops. Most cool season vegetables can handle light frosts with little damage. Area farms will also be keeping their eyes on the forecast looking for the first hard freeze and calling upon our volunteers for help in rescuing produce from the fields. Let your area gardeners know you’re interested in fresh produce and your hours of operation for opportunities to receive end-of-season bounty. Winter is a great time to plan for next year’s garden. Sign-up to receive seed catalogs and emails from major seed distributors like
Good news at The Food Bank Hunger Challenge 9
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Forty-nine pantries and 37 feeding sites were awarded portions of a $106,250 donation from the Walmart Foundation. The funds will be used as a challenge grant, meaning agencies will fundraise to match the awarded grant dollar-for-dollar, doubling its impact. This is the ninth year Walmart has generously allowed The Food Bank to issue matching grants. Ozarks Food Harvest was the first food bank in Missouri to award grants to its partner nonprofits, and in the last fiscal year, The Food Bank provided $164,186 in agency grants. Member agencies have until Feb. 28 to fundraise for the challenge.
On Oct. 11, Ending Hunger, Building Hope capital campaign donors, member agencies and volunteers gathered at The Food Bank to dedicate the new 56,000 square-foot warehouse expansion. Attendees enjoyed the ribbon-cutting ceremony, networking and a delicious brunch. The $4.8 million project was made possible by a lead gift from the O’Reilly family, donations from individual, corporate and foundation donors and the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation Challenge Grant. With more space to process and stage donations, Ozarks Food Harvest will increase food rescue efforts, distribute more fresh produce and ultimately provide more meals across the Ozarks.
GLEAN TEAM at fassnight creek farm
LOOKING AHEAD... No food safety class in December Food Bank closed Nov. 22 and 23 Food Bank closed Dec. 24, 25 and Jan. 1