(UPDATED story at 11:26 am)
While final numbers are still being calculated, the 17th annual Zimmer Radio Commerce Bank one-for-one holiday food drive has raised more than $55,000.
An ecstatic Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri president Lindsay Lopez made the announcement Wednesday evening on 939 the Eagle and all of our Zimmer mid-Missouri radio stations.
“So I am thrilled to give you a preliminary total, preliminary only because people can still continue to give. We want them to continue to give. Cars are still rolling through. So are we ready? Preliminary total … $52,842,” Lopez tells listeners.
Since Wednesday night’s broadcast, Ms. Lopez says they’ve raised more than $56,000 and that listeners are still donating. That total will provide more than 210,000 meals to mid-Missourians, and it does not include all of the food that was donated Wednesday at Columbia Mall and at Buchheit in Jefferson City. We thank all of our sponsors, including Commerce Bank, the Missouri Pork Association and Columbia College. We also thank everyone who donated. We appreciate your generosity, and so does Lopez.
“The work that the food bank does is so critically important. So many people are food insecure. One in eight people in this community and throughout our service area is considered food insecure, meaning they don’t have regular access to nutritious food. So hunger is real, it is prevalent, it is all around us,” says Lopez.
One listener who donated yesterday was helped by the food bank in 2011. He’s now successful and donates $300 a month to the food bank, to show his appreciation. Another woman on disability showed up at Columbia Mall and donated $25. She has no place to live. The food bank is working with agencies to try to find her a place to live. Many other listeners donated change, which is all they had.
