SIKESTON, Mo. – This year’s First State Community Bank Holiday Classic will have an added element of competition off the court.
The 11 schools participating in the girls high school basketball tournament will also take part in the Food Drive Face Off, competing to raise the most funds and food for Southeast Missouri Food Bank.
“We realized that we had the perfect avenue to reach a large number of people in the southeast Missouri area through the 11 teams participating in the tournament this year, and the girls’ basketball community are some of the best and most giving people that we know, so it is a perfect fit for us,” said Tabitha Hahn, tournament assistant director.
The Food Drive Face Off will have two elements. From Dec. 1 through Dec. 20, each school will hold a virtual food drive, allowing fans to donate online to support their team. Additionally, at the tournament, there will be box for each school where fans can donate nonperishable food items. Each $1 donated to the virtual food drive will equal one item of food to help determine the winner.
First State Community Bank, the tournament’s sponsor, will match up to $1,000 in virtual food drive donations.
“We’re excited about the Food Drive Face Off and seeing local schools and teams support neighbors facing hunger across southeast Missouri,” said Joey Keys, SEMO Food Bank’s chief executive officer. “The holiday season can be especially hard on families, children and seniors who are food insecure, so this is coming at a great time to help them. We look forward to exciting competition, on and off the court, at the First State Community Bank Holiday Classic.”
The 28th First State Community Holiday Classic will be Dec. 16-17 at Saxony Lutheran High School and Dec. 18, Dec. 20-21 at the Show Me Center and features area girl’s high school basketball teams.
Links to each team’s Virtual Food Drive can be found at https://semofoodbank.fenly.org/drives/.
Southeast Missouri Food Bank serves 80,000 individuals each month through a network of 140 partner agencies and other programs. The food bank’s 16-county service area has some of the highest rates of hunger in the state, where one in six families and one in five children are food insecure.
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 5,575 senior citizens and weekend backpacks of food during the school year to nearly 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.