Jefferson City residents donated 25,147 pounds of food and $9,414 last month for The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri and its partner agencies in Cole County as part of the National Association of Letter Carriers annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive.
The Food Bank is able to purchase $21 worth of food with every $1 gift. That means the monetary donations raised during this drive will allow the organization to acquire and distribute $197,694 worth of groceries.
The food and fund donations combined will provide more than 124,500 meals to people in Cole County.
Stamp Out Hunger was held May 13. The largest single-day food drive in the nation, the event celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.
Across The Food Bank's 32-county service area, The Food Bank and its partner pantries collected a total of 132,546 pounds and $59,750 with monetary donations continuing to come in.
In Cole County, The Food Bank works with nine partner agencies and 18 elementary schools through the Buddy Pack program. In 2016, the Food Bank distributed more than 1.4 million pounds of food to Cole County residents in need.