2024 Difference Maker: How Joey Keys is transforming food assistance in Southeast Missouri

Joey Keys was raised outside of Delta, Missouri. With no grocery store in the town, he remembers the trip his family made each week to get food in Cape Girardeau. Now, as the president and CEO of the Southeast Missouri Food Bank, Keys wants to give back to the community through stable and consistent food provision.

While regional director of the Better Business Bureau [BBB], Keys gave the food bank a Torch Award, honoring it as an ethical business/not-for-profit in Southeast Missouri. Keys then became inspired to join the Food Bank and started as the chief advancement officer.

“[The previous director] retired, and I became the CEO of the Food Bank. The full search was chosen by the board, and it's been a whirlwind ever since,” Keys said. “I was hired in 2018, and I started as CEO in March of 2019. One year later, the pandemic hit.”

Before the pandemic, the SEMO Food Bank served around 60,000 individuals in the community. Keys says that number has grown to at least 80,000 individuals, with rising rates of inflation and aftershocks of the pandemic affecting many.

“With the pandemic everyone's fighting for the same resources. So, prices skyrocketed, right? You're paying three times more for a truckload of peanut butter, which you wouldn't before the pandemic, and canned foods are the hardest to get [because they are] shelf stable,” Keys said. “Regional stores were scaling back, delivery stuff was challenging, and so it was very scary for a while.”

Keys thanks the abundance of community donations and the national-level donors for providing during times of need but admits that donations are always necessary. The costs post-pandemic are high, even while the Food Bank’s role in the community continues to expand.

“I think we're still trying to figure out the baseline of food assistance. What's the baseline of funding? What do we need to really propel the organization and get better quality food for people?” Keys said. “That's probably the big thing. We have a lot of health disparities in our area and that starts with the food people eat.”

With more than 10,000 square miles covered by the food bank, it would be easy to lose track of the individual impact of meals provided. By working as a coach for his child’s youth sports teams, Keys sees firsthand the impact of how food on the table makes a “huge difference” in a child’s life. With his knowledge gained at the BBB and as a chief deputy county clerk/election supervisor for seven years, Keys shines a light on other options for provision in the community.

“It helps me relate to all the small communities in Southeast Missouri because I grew up in one so I know what life's like in there,” Keys said. “It's a great life.”

Keys deems Missouri a pseudo-produce desert, due to the large amount of “cattle crop agriculture”. He aims to provide options for people who want agency in their food, instead of getting what is available in the local pantry.

“Mobile food pantries are a good way to reach rural areas because it's very spread out,” Keys said. “So that is one thing we're always looking to increase.”

From transportation, food acquisition, fundraising, and other connecting programs, Keys thanks volunteers and the leadership team for being the backbone of the Food Bank. From packing senior boxes to the “Backpacks For Fridays” program, Keys says their role is integral. Through stellar leadership, Keys bridges the gap between the volunteers and the business.

“With food banking, it's not just food. We do workforce development. We do health care. We do all kinds of stuff. It’s really good that you can look [at all aspects of life that are challenging for people] and get referrals to mental health services, whatever they need,” Keys said. “If they need food assistance, they probably need help with something else, as well. We want to be the connector.”

Editor's note: This story has been edited to correct where Keys was born and that Delta didn't have a grocery store when he was growing up.