Chaffee receives grant for food

Chaffee will be receiving much needed help from the Southeast Missouri Food Bank after it was awarded a $5,000 grant from the BNSF Railway Foundation to serve the Scott County town specifically.

"Strong community relationships are so important in fighting hunger," said Joey Keys, chief executive officer of the food bank, in a press release. "BNSF has a long history with Chaffee, and their support will help so many people in the community who do not have enough food."

According to the SEMO Food Bank, one in six households and one in five children in Chaffee are considered food insecure.

Southeast Missouri usually has high hunger levels and the pandemic did increase the need for hunger assistance, chief advancement officer at the SEMO Food Bank, Lisa Church, said. The food bank currently serves around 70,000 individuals, which has increased from the about 63,000 individuals that were served before the pandemic.

The BNSF Foundation grant will help address the need in Chaffee by funding quarterly mobile food distributions and sponsoring six Chaffee students in the "Backpacks for Friday" program during the upcoming school year.

Each mobile food pantry provides at least 200 families with about 30 pounds of nutritious food.

Children in the "Backpacks for Friday" program take home a pack of food each school week, providing healthy, no-prep meals for the weekend.

BNSF Railway, one of the largest freight railroads in North America, created their foundation to make a difference in the communities where their employees live. The foundation supports thousands of communities across the 28 states where BNSF operates, primarily across the Midwest, Southwest and Northwest regions of the U.S..

Chaffee has long been a railroad hub, and the BNSF's network runs through Chaffee's tracks even today. An excerpt of a story by David Hente published Feb. 17, 1994 in the Southeast Missourian said, "Chaffee owes its existence to the railroad."

For more information about Southeast Missouri Food Bank and its programs, visit semofoodbank.org.