SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— More than 60 local grocers partnered with Ozarks Food Harvest for the 26th annual Check Out Hunger campaign, raising more than $50,000 from customer donations to provide more than 150,000 meals for families facing hunger.
The fundraiser ran from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, but The Food Bank received checks from grocers throughout the first month of 2025. Charitable donations tend to drop after the holidays, which makes this an ideal time for Ozarks Food Harvest to receive a financial boost.
“This donation comes at a great time as many families struggle to put food on the table during the winter months,” said Jordan Browning, director of communications at Ozarks Food Harvest. “We’re so grateful to our grocery partners and the shoppers who stepped up to help end hunger right here in the Ozarks.”
Check Out Hunger gives shoppers the opportunity to add a $1, $3 or $5 tax-free donation to their grocery bill at the register of participating retailers during the holiday season. Participating grocers include Apple Market, Country Mart, Harter House, King Cash Saver, King Food Saver, Price Cutter, Ramey, Rhodes Family Price Chopper, Town & Country Supermarket and Woods Supermarket.
Harter House stores in Hollister, Kimberling City, Nixa, Shell Knob, Springfield and Strafford have been major contributors to The Food Bank’s Check Out Hunger campaign since 2008. In that time, they have helped provide more than 690,000 meals to children, families and seniors across southwest Missouri.
“We were so happy to partner with Ozarks Food Harvest again in 2024,” said Andrew Bettlach, owner of two Harter House grocery stores. “Over the past few years, we’ve encountered some unique challenges that we thought would affect how much we as a local business would be able to fundraise. But we had another record-breaking year and would like to sincerely thank our local families and cashiers who make this event possible!”
Since 1998, the Check Out Hunger campaign has raised nearly $865,000 to help provide more than 3.8 million meals to The Food Bank’s network of 270 faith-based and community charities.
