This post has nothing to do with the traditional entrepreneurial information that is written on this site. However, I do write, on multiple occasions, about giving back. Sometimes it is giving back in the form of mentoring those who know less and other times pitching in to help those who have less.

As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, most families will spend those holidays celebrating with family time and fine feasts. That is 7 out of every 8 people in the Ozarks will. The other one will go hungry. 1 out of every 8 people in the Ozarks go without adequate food of any kind. Americans are so willing to help starving people in other countries. Won’t you please help the starving people in our own country? Just look at the statistics reported from Ozarks Food Harvest (source):

• 300 children are served by homeless shelters nightly in Springfield and Greene County.
• 40% of people receiving food from Ozarks Food Harvest are under 18.
• 65% of schools in The Food Bank’s service area have more than 50% free and reduced meal participation.
• Even periodic hunger can lead to growth retardation, weak immunity, obesity, limited cognitive development and emotional problems.
• One in four people in a soup kitchen line is a child.
• In Missouri, 1 in 3 children (34%) live in families without full-time, year-round employment.
• About half of food stamp participants are children.
• Child poverty rates are higher in rural areas (15% versus 10% in metro areas).
• Households with children receive about 75 percent of all food stamp benefits.
• 13 million (17.8%) children in the U.S. live in poverty.
• In Missouri, 18% of children live in poverty.

Ozarks Food Harvest is trying to help combat hunger in SW Missouri. Ozarks Food Harvest-The Food Bank-collects food and distributes it to a network of more than 340 agencies such as shelters, soup kitchens, senior centers, pantries and day cares. These hunger relief organizations serve poverty stricken children, working poor, families and seniors. The Food Bank distributes nearly five million pounds of food annually to 29 southwest Missouri counties – reaching more than 41,000 people every month (source).

Mr. Dan Vega and The Blue Star Business Institute are working in conjunction with the Ozarks Food Harvest this October 27th, 2009 at the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, Missouri. The Blue Star Business Institute is hosting a seminar that Mr. Vega will be speaking at on topics such as:

• Low Cost Marketing Strategies
• How to Double your Sales
• Why Most Companies Fail & How To Avoid It
• And many other useful topics for people of all walks of life

They request that all of those who plan on attending bring at least one can of food to the event. If you cannot attend and you would still like to help, you can donate directly to the Ozarks Food Harvest via their Donation Page. No gift is too small. This is a worthy cause. One can of vegetables can cost as little as 33 cents. That is less than a soda or cup of coffee. If you forgo eating out one time, that same monetary amount could feed a small family. Please help your fellow Americans have a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas.

Tags: blue star business institute, children, dan vega, hungry, ozarks food harvest, starving

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 11:16 pm and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.