SIKESTON, Mo. – A Perry County church is one of four partner agencies of the Southeast Missouri Food Bank who have received a total of $10,000 to allow the agencies to increase and improve their distribution process.
One of the grants went to Celebrate Recovery/First Baptist Church in Perry County.
“Our agencies are really on the frontlines of the fight against hunger in southeast Missouri,” said Camille Peters, chief impact officer at SEMO Food Bank. “These groups often work with limited resources, so these capacity-building grants are a huge opportunity for them to better serve neighbors facing hunger in their communities.”
Grants were awarded to:
- Celebrate Recovery/First Baptist Church in Perry County
- Freedom House in Dunklin County
- Haven House in Butler County
- Black River Baptist in Reynolds County
The grant opportunity was open to all of the food bank’s 140 partner agencies, who were invited to submit a request for a maximum of $3,000 with information on what would be purchased and how it would allow them to better serve their communities.
The grants were used to purchase things like new shelving and freezers that will allow the agencies to be more efficient in distributions and increase their storage capacity.
“As we’ve seen more people needing food assistance over the last couple years, it’s become even more important that our partners have the resources they need to effectively serve neighbors facing hunger,” Peters said. “The food bank is excited to be able to offer opportunities like the capacity building grants to our partners.”
Southeast Missouri Food Bank serves about 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 seven families, one in six children and one in eight seniors 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.