One area organization has taken over helping those in need of food from another organization.

Christian Action Ministries took over the Mobile Food Distribution from Christian Associates in June. CAM Executive Director Michele Dean, during an interview on KRZK's "Ozarks Now" program, said that Christian Associates had approached them about taking over that service as they desired to direct their efforts to other areas of financial assistance. Dean said they are working the mobile distributions around the already existing Food Pantries in the county as to not overlap times and services. 

Dean added that CAM recently received a grant from Ozarks Food Harvest earmarked especially for their efforts in Stone County. Dean says that will help the organization keep the donations and food to be distributed separate between Stone and Taney Counties. 

Dean also talks about the upcoming Ozarks Dynacom's Holiday Food Harvest presented by the Tri-Lakes Board of that will benefit both CAM and Salvation Army Branson on November 22. The complete interview with Michele Dean can be heard below as well as the complete release from CAM:

Christian Action Ministries recently received a capacity building grant thanks to Ozarks Food Harvest’s $1
million investment in agency infrastructure in southwest Missouri.

The grant funding will provide food which will help their mobile food distribution in Stone County. Through the grant, Christian Action Ministries will be able to supply groceries to over 1,500 individuals in Stone County. Christian Action Ministries was one of more than 70 organizations chosen by Ozarks Food Harvest to receive an agency capacity grant to assist with hunger-relief efforts. 

“This grant is a blessing, as the individuals we serve continue to deal with economic uncertainty,” said Michele Dean, Executive Director, Christian Action Ministries. “Since we began serving Stone County in June of 2023, we have provided over 2,800 counts of assistance. Thanks to Ozarks Food Harvest, we’re able to continue our work of combating food insecurity in Stone County. Our partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest is special, by supporting our mobile distribution, they help us remove barriers for many of our neighbors in need.” 

Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving 270 charities across 28 Ozarks counties. This capacity building investment is part of The Food Bank’s multi-faceted strategy to address needs identified in Missouri’s Food Assistance and Hunger in the Heartland 2021 report conducted by the MU Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security. 

“These grant funds are an investment in the future of our community’s food system,” said Bart Brown, president/CEO of Ozarks Food Harvest. “Increasing access to food is key as our network of hunger-relief charities continue to deal with the expanding cost of food and fuel.” 

Last year, 47,544 individual cases of assistance were recorded – meaning nearly 600,000 meals provided in the more than two million pounds of food distributed.