SPONSOR GROUPS
AAF OF THE OZARKS
The mission of AAF of the Ozarks is to provide a forum for interaction, education and professional development of the membership in order to enhance the advertising marketplace. We represent the advertising industry's interest to the public, governmental and regulatory bodies; and provide advertising counsel to public service organizations. The club hosts monthly luncheons and workshops, as well as coordinates the annual only local-to-national advertising competition - the ADDY® awards. AAF of the Ozarks is a member affiliate of the American Advertising Federation (AAF), headquartered in Washington, D.C., acts as the "Unifying Voice for Advertising." The AAF is the oldest national advertising trade association, representing 50,000 professionals in the advertising industry. The AAF has a national network of 200 ad clubs located in ad communities across the country. Through its 215 college chapters, the AAF provides 6,500 advertising students with real-world case studies and recruitment connections to corporate America. The AAF also has 130 blue-chip corporate members that are advertisers, agencies and media companies, comprising the nation's leading brands and corporations. The American Advertising Federation protects and promotes the well-being of advertising. We accomplish this through a unique, nationally coordinated grassroots network of advertisers, agencies, media companies, local advertising clubs and college chapters.
www.aafozarks.org
P.O. Box 10511
Springfield, MO 65808
MASTER GARDENERS OF GREENE COUNTY
Master Gardeners is a group of trained volunteers who contribute thousands of hours each year in the Springfield area. Motivated by their passion for gardening, members share their training and expertise in sound horticultural practices with others. They may consult with neighbors to solve gardening problems, speak to local clubs, staff a gardening hotline or plan and present public education classes on a variety of topics.
The Missouri Master Gardener program began in St. Louis in 1983 and is designed to assist the University of Missouri and Lincoln University Outreach and Extension by providing horticultural information to the public. Master Gardeners of Southwest Missouri was formed in Springfield in 1984. Nationally, the program began in 1972 in Washington state and has since spread to all 50 states and several Canadian provinces.
For information about becoming a Master Gardener or any other program information, call University of Missouri Outreach and Extension, (417) 862-9284, Ext. 18.
www.outreach.missouri.edu/greene/mg
University of Missouri Outreach and Extension
833 Boonville Ave.
Springfield, MO 65802
(417) 862-9284
PLANT A ROW FOR THE HUNGRY
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one in ten households in the United States experiences hunger or the risk of hunger. Many frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for an entire day. Approximately 25 million people, including 9.9 million children, have substandard diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. In the past year, the demand for hunger assistance has increased by 40%, and research shows that hundreds of hungry children and adults are turned away from food banks each year because of lack of resources.
The purpose of PAR is to create and sustain a grassroots program whereby garden writers utilize their media position with local newspapers, magazines and radio/TV programs to encourage their readers/listeners to donate their surplus garden produce to local food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations to help feed America's hungry.
PAR's success hinges on its people-helping-people approach. The concept is simple. There are over 70 million gardeners in the U.S. alone, many of which plant vegetables and harvest more than they can consume. If every gardener plants one extra row of vegetables and donates their surplus to local food banks and soup kitchens, a significant impact can be made on reducing hunger. Food agencies will have access to fresh produce, funds earmarked for produce can be redirected to other needed items and the hungry of America will have more and better food than is presently available.
PAR's role is to provide focus, direction and support to volunteer committees who execute the programs at the local level. We help gather the human resources necessary to form a nucleus for a local committee. Then we provide training and direction to enable the committee to reach out into the community. Finally, we assist in coordinating the local food collection systems and monitor the volume of donations being conveyed to the soup kitchens and food banks. PAR is proving that every individual can make a difference in his/her community. (Last year, PAR had over 600 volunteer committees with an average of 45 people involved in each program totaling 27,000 volunteers!)
PAR began in Anchorage, AK, in the garden column of Jeff Lowenfels, former Garden Writers Association president, when he asked gardeners to plant a row of vegetables for Bean's Cafe, an Anchorage soup kitchen. Since then, PAR has grown exponentially through continued media support, individual and company sponsorship, and volunteerism.
It took the first five years to reach the major milestone of a cumulative total of one million pounds of donated produce. In the next six years, more than a million pounds of food was donated each year. This is a significant contribution considering that each pound of food makes four meals. In 2005, more than 1.5 million pounds of produce were donated generating meals for over 5.5 million needy recipients. All this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape - just people helping people. PAR's goal for our 10th anniversary in 2004 was to make more than 8 million pounds of produce available to food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations. Thanks to the efforts of all of our PAR volunteers, that goal was reached. The total produce donations through 2005 reached nearly 10 million pounds of produce to help those in need in communities throughout the U.S. and Canada.
In 2002, GWA established a supporting 501(c)(3) charity called the Garden Writers Association Foundation to administer and expand the PAR program.
RECIPIENT GROUP: OZARKS FOOD HARVEST
For 25 years, Ozarks Food Harvest, the only food bank serving 29 counties in southwest Missouri, has been recovering safe food that would otherwise be discarded, and warehousing and distributing it to a network of more than 350 nonprofit hunger relief organizations such as shelters, soup kitchens, senior centers, pantries and daycares that serve poverty stricken children, working poor, and elderly. Ozarks Food Harvest distributes more than 5 million pounds of food every year, and because of The Food Bank's impact on the economy in the Ozarks, the organization was awarded the inaugural Nonprofit of the Year Award through the Springfield Business Journal's Economic Impact Awards. If you live outside the metro Springfield area, please see the Ozarks Food Harvest web site or call them for a food pantry in your area, or check the listings in the phone book.