The Food Bank receives $5,000 grant from Great Western Bank of Milan
Columbia, Mo. – The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri announced today a $5,000 Making Life Great Grant from Great Western Bank of Milan to support the Buddy Pack Program at three schools in Sullivan County.
Throughout The Food Bank’s 32-county service area, including Sullivan County, 15% of children face food insecurity regularly. To address a growing concern that, for children living in poverty, the only source of consistent and reliable nutrition was school meals, The Food Bank started the Buddy Pack Program in 2005. The Buddy Pack Program provides nutritious food on weekends and school holidays to early childhood, elementary and middle school children who are identified as food insecure by school staff members.
“We’re proud to partner with Green City Elementary, Milan C-2 Elementary and Newtown-Harris R-III Elementary to serve approximately 100 children every week in Sullivan County during the school year,” said Lindsay Lopez, president and CEO of The Food Bank. “Great Western Bank’s grant of $5,000 will help provide 18 children with regular nutritious food.”
In Sullivan County, Feeding America estimated that in 2019 the food insecurity rate among children was 14.3%. Feeding America also estimated that in 2020, due to the impact of COVID-19, that rate increased to 16.1%. Finally, Feeding America estimated that 18% of food-insecure children in Sullivan County are likely not eligible for federal nutrition programs. This means that charitable food assistance such as the Buddy Pack Program or food pantries would be the only resource available to them.
For more information, please visit sharefoodbringhope. org.
