SEMO Food Bank receives BNSF foundation grant

A $5,000 grant from the BNSF Railway Foundation has been presented to the Southeast Missouri Food Bank to help fund food distributions in Chaffee, Missouri.

In a news release last week about the contribution, food bank chief executive officer Joey Keys said BNSF has a "long history" in Chaffee, "and their support will help so many people in the community who do not have enough food."

Keys said one in six Chaffee households, and one in five children there, are considered "food insecure." Programs receiving support from the BNSF foundation will help address those needs with quarterly mobile food distributions, Keys said. Each mobile food pantry provides at least 200 families with about 30 pounds of food.

The railway foundation's grant will also sponsor six Chaffee students in the food bank's Backpacks for Friday program for the 2021-2022 school year. Children in the program take home a pack of food each week during the school year, providing no-prep meals for the weekend.

More information about the Southeast Missouri Food Bank and its programs may be found online at www.semofoodbank.org.

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