{"id":30690,"date":"2017-11-02T11:33:27","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T16:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resource-center.hrblock.com\/?post_type=newsroom&#038;p=30690"},"modified":"2023-03-02T14:19:51","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T20:19:51","slug":"springfield-missouri-native-brings-change-to-hometown-area","status":"publish","type":"newsroom","link":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/our-purpose\/springfield-missouri-native-brings-change-to-hometown-area\/","title":{"rendered":"Video: Springfield, Missouri native brings change to hometown area"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"H&amp;R Block teams up with Ozarks Food Harvest\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eEMM0_9IniM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In&nbsp;southwest Missouri, an estimated&nbsp;one in five kids are hungry and have no food to eat. For adults, the number is one in seven. The need for assistance is an ongoing problem and that is where Serita Eldridge comes in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think for myself personally, it\u2019s important to give back and do a lot for people in need,\u201d said Eldridge.<\/p>\n<p>Born in Springfield, Missouri and raised in Joplin, Missouri, Eldridge empowers a team of H&amp;R Block tax associates,&nbsp;district&nbsp;general&nbsp;managers and even her&nbsp;regional&nbsp;director to do more. The latest effort: the group teamed up with <a href=\"https:\/\/ozarksfoodharvest.org\/\">Ozarks Food Harvest<\/a> out of Springfield,&nbsp;Missouri.&nbsp;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-30722 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Ozarks-3-300x176.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Ozarks-3-300x176.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Ozarks-3-768x450.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Ozarks-3-1024x600.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Ozarks-3.jpg 1242w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are filling boxes for seniors,\u201d said Eldridge.<\/p>\n<p>On November 1,&nbsp;17 district&nbsp;general&nbsp;managers from all over the Midwest rolled up their sleeves and started filling boxes with items like cereal, juice, rice and much more to be distributed to seniors throughout the area.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout volunteers, we could not do the work we do,\u201d said Christine Temple of Ozarks Food Harvest. \u201cWe are providing one and a half million meals a month to people in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The partnership with H&amp;R Block and Ozarks Food Harvest started in 2016 and is one that continues today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year we did a food drive for them,\u201d said Eldridge. \u201cWe will continue to do that and continue to help raise funds for our not-for-profit partner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In just under three hours, the 17 H&amp;R Block employees filled&nbsp;19&nbsp;pallets with boxes full of food that will go to an estimated 760 seniors throughout the area.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The beginning<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Eldridge, who is now a&nbsp;district&nbsp;general&nbsp;manager for H&amp;R Block, is responsible for an area that ranges from Branson to Joplin and includes the&nbsp;Springfield, Missouri area.&nbsp;She&nbsp;is a true believer&nbsp;that&nbsp;any amount of time giving back&nbsp;builds&nbsp;a strong community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t grow up in a wealthy family,\u201d said Eldridge. \u201cWe had a lot of help and resources. So, I do believe it\u2019s important to give back whenever you are able to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eldridge is one of five children. Her mother served&nbsp;as the primary caretaker and breadwinner for most of her life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI grew up in an awesome, loving, Christian family, but mom was trying to raise&nbsp;five&nbsp;kids on her own,\u201d said Eldridge.<\/p>\n<p>That is when Eldridge\u2019s grandfather stepped in and made sure the five children had an outlet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started going to the Boys and Girls Club on a regular basis in fifth&nbsp;grade and the relationships that were built with staff and other kids were vital to my own development. There were days when I might not have had a meal if it wasn&#8217;t for the club or&nbsp;my&nbsp;grandparents.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Hitting a home run for youth<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In addition&nbsp;to helping others meet their needs, Eldridge has found a way to inspire her team of tax associates to use their tax and financial knowledge to educate the youth of the area.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are actually working in the Boys and Girls Clubs in Southwest Missouri and giving them finance classes,\u201d said Eldridge. \u201cIt is so important for teens to know how to manage finances because once they get out in the real world and you have messed&nbsp;up,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;hard to fix it later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The team has even found a way to make the education process fun. All the Boys and Girls Clubs are using the knowledge to compete against each other and in the summer of 2017 two winners were named: &nbsp;A Boys and Girls Club&nbsp;in&nbsp;Webb City, Missouri and the second&nbsp;in&nbsp;Branson, Missouri.<\/p>\n<p>The groups did not just get bragging rights, but loaded up and headed to Kansas City to watch a Royals game while sitting in the H&amp;R Block suite.&nbsp;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-30717 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Royals-game-1-300x221.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Royals-game-1-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Royals-game-1-768x566.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Royals-game-1-1024x755.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor many of them they had never been out of&nbsp;southwest Missouri. It was an awesome and amazing experience for them,\u201d said Eldridge.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In&nbsp;southwest Missouri, an estimated&nbsp;one in five kids are hungry and have no food to eat. For adults, the number is one in seven. The need for assistance is an ongoing problem and that is where Serita Eldridge comes in. \u201cI think for myself personally, it\u2019s important to give back and do a lot for people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":30715,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[19308],"news-categories":[23376,23381],"class_list":["post-30690","newsroom","type-newsroom","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-make-every-block-better","news-categories-around-block","news-categories-our-purpose"],"acf":{"post_rest_thumbnail_alt_id":null},"yoast_head":"<title>Springfield, Missouri native brings change to hometown area<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Serita Eldridge empowers a team of H&amp;R Block associates to volunteer one day at the Ozarks Food Harvest in Springfield, Missouri.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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