SIKESTON, Mo. – February is Canned Food Month, and Southeast Missouri Food Bank is launching its annual You CAN Fight Hunger campaign, inviting the community to participate by donating canned foods at participating locations throughout the region.
“Canned food donations play an important role in helping our partner pantries meet daily needs,” said Joey Keys, president and CEO of Southeast Missouri Food Bank. “This campaign is an opportunity for our community to help restock pantry shelves with nutritious, shelf-stable items — foods families can take home and use right away.”
Hunger remains a serious challenge across Southeast Missouri. The Food Bank’s 16-county service area includes the five most food-insecure counties in Missouri. Today, 1 in 6 neighbors, 1 in 4 children, and 1 in 8 seniors face hunger, and Southeast Missouri Food Bank serves nearly 80,000 individuals each month through its network of partner agencies.
The You CAN Fight Hunger campaign highlights the importance of canned food donations — items that are easy to store and distribute. Donations of canned vegetables and fruits help add nutrition to meals, while canned soups provide comfort and warmth, and canned proteins such as tuna, chicken, and beans offer essential sources of energy for families.
Community members can also support the campaign by donating online at semofoodbank.org. Every $1 helps provide 4 meals for neighbors across Southeast Missouri, helping families, children, and seniors put nutritious food on their tables.
“We’ve seen time and again how powerful community involvement can be,” Keys said. “Every can collected helps strengthen our local pantry network and brings us one step closer to ending hunger in Southeast Missouri.”
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 1,100 students in area 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.