Ozark Harvest Recycles Leftovers

Ozark Harvest, an organization that takes excess food from institutions and restaurants and delivers it to the needy, is looking for food donors in Washington and Benton counties.

“We’ve got lots of people to run the food,” says John Lowry, a night dispatcher for J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., who works with Ozark Harvest. “We just need people to keep the food from going into the trash.”

Lowry says Ozark Harvest was organized three years ago by Karen Wiggins, then of Gravette, now of Rogers. Ozark Harvest typically takes fresh, cooked meals from large banquets and other events and delivers it to the needy, but uncooked food is also needed.

“We don’t take any money,” says Lowry, “only food.”

Currently, St. Mary’s Hospital of Rogers is the only food donor. Food from the hospital is delivered by Ozark Harvest to the Battered Women’s Shelter in Bentonville and the Boys and Girls Shelter in Rogers, says Lowry.

If more donors were participating, more charities could be served. Lowry says there are 21 charities in Benton County alone that could benefit from the services of Ozark Harvest.