SEMO Food Bank Mobilizes Emergency Food Distributions for Tornado-Stricken Communities

Sikeston, MO – In response to the devastating tornadoes that struck Southeast Missouri on March 14th, the Southeast Missouri Food Bank has announced a series of emergency mobile food pantries aimed at providing immediate relief to affected residents.

“Recovering from this level of destruction takes time,” stated Joey Keys, Chief Executive Officer of the SEMO Food Bank. “As families begin to rebuild, we are committed to providing consistent food distributions in the hardest-hit areas for as long as it takes. We hope that having reliable access to food will ease some of the burdens these neighbors face.”

The scheduled mobile distributions are as follows:

Wayne County: Monday, March 24th, 10:00 a.m. at Mill Spring Village Fire and City Hall.

Reynolds County: Monday, March 24th, 5:00 p.m. at Ellington Apostolic Tabernacle Church, 458 Hwy Y, Ellington.

Carter County: Tuesday, March 25th, 10:00 a.m. at Mt. Zion Church of God Prophecy, 454 Old Bridge Road, Van Buren.

Butler County: Friday, March 28th, 10:30 a.m. at Fellowship General Baptist Church of Poplar Bluff, 3581 North Westwood Blvd, Poplar Bluff.

The food bank has pledged to continue providing updates on future distributions via their Facebook page and the Mobile Food Pantry calendar on their website, semofoodbank.org.

“Disaster relief is an important but often overlooked part of the food bank’s work,” Keys explained. “Our operations and programs teams have been working closely with emergency management, first responders, and our existing partners to ensure the needs of those affected are met.”

The organization has received substantial product donations from Procter & Gamble and will be allocating additional funds to purchase more food for the relief efforts.

“It’s an unforeseen cost for us, but the hardest-hit areas already have some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the state,” Keys said. “We know how much this food will mean to neighbors who have already lost so much.”

Those wishing to support the SEMO Food Bank’s Disaster Response Fund can make donations at https://tinyurl.com/SEMOFBDisasterResponse.