SIKETON, MO - The Southeast Missouri Food Bank, in partnership with Faith Temple Complex, received a $500,000 grant to help fight hunger in one of the most food insecure counties in the state of Missouri.
Southeast Missouri Food Bank was one of just 25 food banks to get one of the grants from Feed America's Food Equity Impact Fund, and went through a rigorous application process to do so.Â
“In a perfect world, food banks would not have to do the amount of work we do," Southeast Missouri Food Bank Donor Relations and Communications Manager Heather Collier said. "We don’t live in a perfect world and a lot of people are struggling�
This grant will go to Pemiscot County. The southeast Missouri County is No.5 in the state of Missouri for food insecurity, and ranks No. 1 in the state for childhood food insecurity.
The majority of the money will go directly to community partners to work on long term solutions. That community partner is Faith Temple Complex in Hayti, Missouri.Â
“Over the three years that we’re going to be implementing it is really going to be focused on long term solutions," Collier said. "It's the old saying, 'if you give a man to fish, he'll eat for one day, if you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime'."
Faith Temple Complex has already purchased three acres of land behind the church. There, they will have a community garden to plant and grow fruits and vegetables for the people in town.Â
They're also planning on working with local farmers, especially smaller farmers, to provide a farmers' market and have an outlet for produce sales.Â
“I’m from this area originally and I’ve seen some of the things go downward," Faith Temple Complex Program Coordinator Cora Sanders said. "With this opportunity, we’ll be able to expand food security in the area and also work with the farmers.�
There is just one grocery store in Hayti, and it's not one of the larger chains. Cora Sanders says transportation is an issue, and the one option is town means the dollar doesn't stretch as far.Â
It's something both she, and her husband, Courtney, are hoping to work on with this grant.Â
“It has to be addressed," pastor of Faith Temple Complex Courtney Sanders said. "If a person can’t eat, a person doesn’t have access to food, it leads to other problems whether that be crime or education because someone is hungry. We can’t get it all, but we actually can put a big dent in it, get to the core of the issue and address many of the things that are going on in our community.�
