Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri wants to fill school pantries. How to help

Charles Dunlap, Columbia Daily Tribune
·3 min read
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The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri on Friday held a food drive to help fill pantries at middle and high schools in Boone County. Grace Reynolds, an Americorps VISTA for the food bank, hands off a bag of food outside the mall to volunteer Becky Bexten before starting her shift inside the mall, while food bank vehicle driver Gideon Rider watches on.

A 12-hour food drive Friday aims to fill pantries located in 11 Boone County middle and high schools ahead of the start of the 2023-24 school year.

Donations early into the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. drive at locations inside and outside of the Columbia Mall were coming in slower than expected, said Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri communications and marketing director Katie Adkins. A monetary donation link for the Pack School Pantries program is available through the weekend, though, she said.

"Each $1 donated is equal to four meals. A $10, $20, $30 donation goes a long way for our school pantries," Adkins said.

Suggested donations for those bringing food items to the drive include peanut butter, canned fruits and vegetables, soups, canned proteins and other nonperishable items.

The Pack School Pantries program has provided 17,000 pounds of shelf-stable food. Younger students receive buddy packs. That program occurs in 30 Boone County schools and has provided more than 133,000 pounds of food.

Donations for a food drive at the Columbia Mall to help fill pantries in Boone County middle and high schools were coming in slower than expected Friday said Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri Communications and Marketing Director Katie Adkins. A monetary donation link specifically for the school pantry program will be available through the weekend, she said.

There always is a hope each year for increasing donations because the Food Bank wants to grow the Pack School Pantries program, Adkins said.

"We want to make sure we can get them into more schools, to offer more choices to students," she said. "School pantries offer older kids food, but they also are starting to incorporate them into other schools where kids are a little bit younger. (That way) kids feel like they have a little bit more choice and control in the food they bring home.

"The other nice thing about school pantries is they allow kids to bring food home for their whole family, rather than food for one kid (through a buddy pack)."

Schools sometimes will hold drives for their own pantries, but the food collected Friday is going throughout the whole community, she added. Boone County schools with pantries include Battle High, Chester Boren Middle, Hallsville Middle/High, Hickman High, Jefferson Middle, John Warner Middle, Lange Middle, Oakland Middle, Rock Bridge High, Smithton Middle and West Middle.

Those who make donations outside of Friday's food drive still can designate which food bank program receives the support.

"So if you were to donate to Boone County and children's programs, this is where that money would go," Adkins said. "We love food donations, non-perishables are amazing, (but) the dollar does go further for us just because we have such amazing bulk purchasing power."

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Food bank volunteer Becky Bexten usually works once a week in the warehouse. This was her first time volunteering for a food drive event.

"I like the teamwork and getting to meet new people," she said about volunteering.

Gideon Rider works as a driver for the Food Bank, including its mobile pantries.

"The ability of helping people going through a rough time just makes me feel good. I get a lot of face-to-face contact with the people I deliver to. That is what I enjoy about it," he said.

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The food bank operates across 32 counties in the region, and works like a wholesale distributor of food for 145 partner agencies at no charge, such as soup kitchens, food pantries and other social service organizations. The food bank also works with 200 schools, serving roughly 7,000 students during the academic year through the pantries and buddy pack programs.

There was a 70% increase from 2021 to 2022 in students helped through the Pack School Pantries program. A $270 donation provides buddy packs for the entire academic year, according to a provided food bank fact sheet.

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: School pantry food drive happening at Columbia Mall needs donations