Sikeston food bank coming to Cape

The Bootheel Food Bank is moving from Sikeston, Mo., to a 25,700-square-foot building on Nash Road near the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

The move, which will be completed later this month, will increase visibility for the food bank, which distributes federal surplus commodities and donated food to 150 agencies in 16 Southeast Missouri counties, executive director Karen Green said in a news release issued Friday.

Food banks are the collection centers for donated food and federal commodities. They provide supplies to food pantries, which in turn make the food available to the public.

The building includes 20,060 feet of warehouse space and 5,650 feet of office space and allows the food bank to consolidate distribution and administration in one location, Green said in the prepared statement.

In her release, Green cited figures from the University of Missouri 2008 Hunger Atlas that shows 65,000 people in Southeast Missouri live below the poverty line, with 35 percent of that number being children. "Bootheel Food Bank's goal is that nobody living in Southeast Missouri will go to bed hungry at night," the statement said.

The building is owned by Doug Lipps, and the deal to move the food bank there was negotiated by real estate broker Tom Kelsey. The food bank is leasing the facility but hopes to raise enough money to finance a purchase.

Lipps is asking $800,000 for the building but has promised to cut $50,000 off the price if the purchase can be arranged within a year, Green said.

"I acknowledge that raising funds with a short timeline will be a challenge," she said in the release. "But Bootheel Food Bank owes it existence to the generosity of caring individuals, churches and businesses. It is our hope that with increased awareness will bring an increase in community participation."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126