SIKESTON, Mo. – Southeast Missouri Food Bank is pleased to announce it will host a ribbon cutting and open house at its location in Cape Girardeau County.
“This expansion is an important step for the food bank, and we’re excited to finally be able to welcome people to the space,” said Joey Keys, the food bank’s chief executive officer.
The food bank’s Cape County location provides increased storage capacity, specifically for disaster relief items like bottled water. It also adds a second volunteer center where Backpacks for Friday kits will be packed and items from food drives will be sorted.
“As prices increased over the last year, we’ve been serving more people, about 80,000 each month,” Keys said. “Having additional warehouse and volunteer space is really going to allow us to better serve our neighbors facing hunger. We’ll also be able to expand some of the programs we offer and focus on new food sourcing avenues.”
The food bank purchased the building in Jackson in 2021 and began the process of renovating and retrofitting the space; staff began moving into the building in December.
“We’ve always had a strong base of support in the Cape and Jackson area,” Keys said. “We’re looking forward to having a permanent location in Cape County and becoming even more involved in the community.”
A ribbon cutting with the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and Jackson Chamber of Commerce will be at 4 p.m. Thurs., March 9, followed by an open house with refreshments until 6 p.m.
More information about SEMO Food Bank and its programs is available at semofoodbank.org.
About Southeast Missouri Food Bank
The mission of Southeast Missouri Food Bank is to end hunger and leverage the power of food to build healthy communities. The food bank provides food to 140 charitable and disaster relief programs in Southeast Missouri. These member agencies include food pantries, soup kitchens, domestic violence and homeless shelters. Southeast Missouri Food Bank also holds regular mobile food distributions and provides monthly boxes of food to 5,600 senior citizens and weekend backpacks of food during the school year to 1,200 students in 30 school districts. The food bank’s 16-county coverage area includes Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Ste. Genevieve, Stoddard and Wayne counties. Those interested in helping can do so by making a tax-deductible contribution, donating food, or scheduling a time to volunteer. Visit semofoodbank.org for more information.