Stimulus program pays for student internships

For the Southeast Missouri Food Bank, a not-for-profit organization that thrives on donations, extra help is not always affordable despite the rising demand for its services.

"We needed some additional helping hands but our budget wouldn't allow us to hire those folks," said Karen Green, executive director of the food bank.

The food bank, which moved the center of its operations from Sikeston, Mo., in 2008, has a distribution center on Nash Road with a staff of 10. There are also two summer interns working for the organization through the Next-Generation Jobs Team, a Missouri summer internship program funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Green said the extra help is immeasurable.

Last year, the organization distributed 3 million pounds of products to its 150 agencies in Southeast Missouri. This year it distributed 2 million pounds in the first three months.

"The lines are getting longer because people are out of work," Green said.

Craig Robinson, 19, of Cape Girardeau, gets food orders ready Thursday at the Southeast Missouri Food Bank. Robinson has been working at the food bank since the beginning of June as an intern funded through stimulus money. (Elizabeth Dodd)

Through the work program, about 6,000 Missouri students age 16 to 24 will be placed with employers throughout the summer. The students, who must meet income requirements, are paid by federal stimulus funds. The window for employment began May 1 and will end Sept. 30.

In Cape Girardeau County 45 students are working for area businesses through the program, said June O'Dell, president of the Workforce Investment Board of Southeast Missouri.

The board is enrolling and matching up students and employers in its 13 county service area. There are about 365 students enrolled and 286 are working, she said.

Scott County has 15 students working through the program. Stoddard County has 34, Perry County has 23 and Bollinger County has 16, she said. Students must work at least 240 hours but cannot exceed 320 hours, she said.

"This is not only to put money in their pocket but to be a career exploration for them," she said.

Craig Robinson will be a freshman at Southeast Missouri State University in the fall. He moved to Cape Girardeau from Hayti, Mo., to begin training for football during the summer.

He said he learned about the work program from a flier he found on his guidance counselor's desk.

"I saw 'Summer Jobs,' and I needed a summer job," he said.

Robinson, 19, learned to drive a forklift in the food bank warehouse where he loads and unloads trucks. He helps fill orders for products that will be distributed through the organization's 60-county service area.

"It's more work honestly, but it feels good to know I'm helping people out," he said.

He said he applied for other jobs outside of the program, but did not have any success.

"I'd probably still be looking or just now starting," he said.

Mylia DeBerry, a senior at the Alternative Education Center, said she also had trouble finding summer work outside the program.

DeBerry, 16, started working at the food bank in June. She answers phones, files papers and helps clean, a task shared by the employees.

"I clean up a lot so I already knew how to do that," she said.

She said her start date was delayed for a couple of weeks while she waited to get her paperwork approved. Robinson said paperwork complications also delayed him for a week.

O'Dell said paperwork problems have been common. She said the program's biggest challenge is working with the students to get all the proper documentation.

"Any time there's a government program, there's a lot of paperwork," she said.

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627

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Pertinent address:

760 South Kingshighway Cape Girardeau, MO

3920 Nash Road Cape Girardeau, MO