You can help feed hungry families

To the editor:I want to thank Denise Lincoln and all who organized, participated in a supported the recent Empty Bowls fundraiser Nov. 4 at the Salvation Army. The event helped emphasize the need for food assistance that exists in Southeast Missouri. Approximately 64,000 people in this area are categorized as living below the poverty line, and 35 percent of those individuals are children.

Bootheel Food Bank is one of the beneficiaries of the money raised, and we will be good stewards of the donated funds. Our not-for-profit organization distributes food through a network of more than 140 hunger-relief agencies serving Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Ste. Genevieve, Stoddard and Wayne counties. Six of these counties are the poorest in Missouri.

As of September, the food bank has moved more than 2 million pounds of food into this service area. With the help of caring individuals and corporations within these communities, we can do even more. If you would like to help feed hungry families during the holidays, please contact Bootheel Food Bank, P.O. Box 809, Sikeston, Mo. 63801, or call 573-471-1818.

KAREN GREEN, Executive Director, Bootheel Food Bank, Sikeston, Mo.