Share and Care counts on community

Holly Carson, current executive director of Ozark Share and Care, shared an update on the organization this week. Share and Care has been a major contributor to aiding those in need in Harrison for decades. “It was established in the late 1980s by a group of churches, civic organizations and other generous people from the Harrison community,” said Carson.

“These people joined together to create a central hub where help could be sought in the event of an emergency or life crisis. Before then, all the different businesses and churches were helping individually. This way, the community could seek help in one place and have all their needs met,” she explained. “This made it easier to give help as well as receive it,” Carson added — regarding the way Share and Care gives donors the ability to help those in need in many ways, through a single channel.

Carson has been with Share and Care since March. She is excited to be with the organization and excited to be a part of changes already underway, “I joined this fabulous organization in March 2024, and it has truly been the best blessing of my life! We have already begun to change and evolve by opening on Saturdays again and holding daily sales posted on Facebook.” Carson’s predecessor was Joy Prater, who developed the program and worked it for 35+ years. Prator announced her retirement in October 2023 during the 35th Anniversary celebration of Ozark Share and Care.

The cornerstone of the organization is its thrift store, located on the bypass in Harrison. The store is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. All proceeds go to funding The Sharing Kitchen and Pantry, as well as to assisting families and individuals with needs such as rent, utilities, medications, gas, and other miscellaneous expenses that occur in life.

There are plans for more improvements to Share and Care ahead — “In the future, we will be moving The Sharing Kitchen to the main campus and expanding the pantry. Our goal is to serve hot meals to the community seven days a week, although that will take a while,” said Carson. The property that currently houses The Sharing Kitchen has been listed for sale. The organization will count on the same kind of help it received in its earliest days, when it first got off the ground, to push forward into this new era, “With this huge project we will be asking for help in all kinds of ways like demolition, construction, and equipment and will need to have many fundraisers to make sure we can complete this project.”

Carson is confident that the same generosity and kindness that brought Share and Care to life decades ago, is still present in Harrison, “With the help of our generous and benevolent community we feel we can succeed.”

One way that Ozark Share and Care, along with The Sharing Kitchen, have managed to serve so many for so long is by having great volunteers. “We have the absolute best volunteers and staff around! Each one has the most generous heart for giving and making sure needs are met without thinking about themselves,” said Carson.

The group can use more volunteers in some areas, such as the sorting of goods donated to the thrift store. Due to Covid in 2020, the thrift store completely closed for about 3 months. When it reopened, there was a lack of volunteers to return after the pandemic. “We are currently increasing the number of volunteers but still need many more volunteers to help — we are in need of volunteers for the warehouse and thrift store,” Carson shared. “It takes hours of work to go through all the wonderful donations that we get each day. These are what fund all that we do, along with monetary donations. So, with that, we take our time to be good stewards of what is given to us as we are so grateful for it.”

Monetary donations are always helpful as well, said Carson. Monetary donations can be made through the website at www.ozarkshareandcare.org or by mailing a contribution to 105 Hwy 62-65 Bypass Harrison, AR 72601. Carson expressed gratitude to everyone who has supported the charity over the years, including major contributors like the Rodeo Committee, FedEx Cares, and the churches of the community who have collected food for the pantry.

During the first three quarters of 2024, the organization helped to feed around 9,800 people from their food pantry, according to Carson. The pantry is open weekly on Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Carson shared that they also served over 15,400 meals from The Sharing Kitchen — which is open on Fridays 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10:30 - 11:30 a.m., and Monday 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.

Share and Care’s reach extends beyond food assistance. “We have given over $29,500 worth of assistance for rent, utilities, gas, medications, medical/dental costs, and clothing to help over 4,230 households with around 215 of those being new households that have signed up for assistance,” said Carson.