Midwest Sterilization food bank donation to help feed area families

Midwest Sterilization recently donated $25,000 to Southeast Missouri Food Bank to help feed children, senior citizens, veterans and families who face hunger in Southeast Missouri.

"This is our third year for supporting Southeast Missouri Food Bank, and we do it because food is the most basic, foundational need," said Karen Eldridge, Midwest Sterilization president and CEO. "We believe it's important for everyone to have enough to eat, and it's important for us as a corporation to support our community."

The food bank will use the funds to acquire and distribute food throughout the 16 Southeast Missouri counties it covers. This is done through the food bank's network of 143 food pantries, mobile food distributions, weekend backpacks of food for students and other programs.

"With rising food and fuel prices, this has been a tough year for a lot of families," said food bank CEO Joey Keys. "We have been serving an average of 70,000 individuals each month and have spent close to three times as much acquiring food this year as what we did pre-pandemic."

One in six families and one in five children in Southeast Missouri are considered food insecure, meaning they don't have the resources to acquire enough healthy food for the family.

Midwest Sterilization has been providing equipment sterilization services to the medical device manufacturing industry for more than 30 years. The female-owned company employs 200 people and is responsible for sterilizing more than 40% of the nation's sterile procedure trays as well as dental instruments, dialysis tubing and implantable devices, such as pacemakers.

Anyone interested in donating the SEMO Food Bank may do so by making a tax-deductible contribution, donating food or volunteering may visit www.SemoFoodBank.org for more information.