SEMO Food Bank awards $10K to 4 organizations
SIKESTON, Mo. (KBSI) – Southeast Missouri Food Bank awarded a total of $10,000 to four of its partner agencies across its 16-county service area.
The money will allow the agencies to increase and improve their distribution process.
“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:
- Freedom House in Dunklin County
- Haven House in Butler County
- Celebrate Recovery/First Baptist Church in Perry County
- Black River Baptist in Reynolds County
The grant opportunity was open to all of the food bank’s 140 partner agencies. They were invited to submit a request for a maximum of $3,000. The request included 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 people each month through a network of 140 partner agencies and other programs.
The food bank serves 16 counties. Some of the counties have 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.
