Welcome to Ozark Food Bank!

The mission of Ozark Food Bank is:

"To fight hunger through advocacy, education, community awareness, and the distribution of food to those in need."

About the Ozark Food Bank:

Ozark Food Bank was founded in 1988 by a group of concerned citizens from local businesses and non-profit organizations. The nearest Food Bank was Fort Smith, about 60 miles away. Ozark Food Bank was founded to help solve two problems in Northwest Arkansas - people going hungry in our community and wasted food.

To fund the Food Bank, a government program called Green Thumb was contacted. Green Thumb places people over the age of fifty in non-profit organizations paying a minimum wage for three months. After three months, Ozark Food Bank was responsible for paying the employees. Soon there was a 3000 square foot facility that became available. In May 1989, an employee was hired. That first year, Ozark Food Bank supplied 35 member agencies by distributing 35,468 pounds of food.

After two years, Ozark Food Bank moved into a 7000 square foot facility. It bacame apparent that to better serve needy people in Northwest Arkansas we would have to partner with a Second Harvest certified Food Bank in Tulsa in order to receive a broad variety of grocery and non food inventory. With the increase in growth, the Board of Directors determined it was necessary to secure a larger warehouse. This 12,000 square foot warehouse located in Bethel Heights is home to Ozark Food Bank today. In 2004, Ozark Food Bank distributed 1.7 million pounds to hungry people in our community, through our agency network.

To implement the Ozark Food Bank mission four key values were established:

* Integrity: We will be open and honest in all relationships, dealings, and transactions. We will strive to earn and convey trust through openness and honesty.

* Stewardship of Resources: We will keep faith with the public trust through the efficient and compassionate use of the resources entrusted to us.

* Accountability: We will set clear standards for the benchmark agaisnt which to measure competence, efficiency, and effectiveness of mission. We will embrace accountability for policy, decisions, and actions, as well as for complete, accurate and clear record keeping and information.

*Service: We will commit to provide excellent service. We will continually strive to study, understand, and meet the changing needs with competence and compassion.

With the population growth in Northwest Arkansas, Ozark Food Bank Board of Directors are committed to strengthen the foundation that has been built. Because of the demand, the Food Bank must handle larger qualities of donated food and serve more agencies.