Lopez Receives Citizen of the Year Honor

Lindsay Young Lopez, executive director of The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri received the Citizen of the Year award from Columbia Elks Lodge 594 on Sunday.

Terry Durnil, Exalted Ruler of Lodge 594, selected Lopez in recognition of her work at The Food Bank, a position she has held since November 2014.

A native of Fayette, Lopez leads all operational functions of The Food Bank, which employees 57 staff members. Most recently, she led her team through an audit process that resulted in The Food Bank becoming an AIB certified Food Safety Inspection Client for the first time.

Lopez has more than 18 years of experience in higher education fundraising and advancement. Prior to joining The Food Bank, she was senior director of development at Columbia College for seven years. In that role, Lopez served as campaign planning manager, spokesperson and as a member of the executive committee for the successful Tradition Meets Tomorrow Campaign, which raised a record-setting $11.1 million and constructed a state-of-the-art science building. She also served on the presidential inauguration core and steering committees, staffed the Philanthropy Committee of the Board of Trustees, served as the main contributor for the award-winning Columbia College annual report and led a team of six staff members. Lopez previously spent 11 years in Development and Alumni Relations at the University of Missouri.

The Elks Lodge honor is the latest in a string of community awards. In 2013, Lopez received the Athena Young Professional Award from the Women’s Network Division of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. In 2012, she was selected to the Greater Missouri Leadership Challenge.  Lopez is active in the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors.  In addition, she was selected to the 2010 Leadership Columbia class, named as co-chair of the 2011 Leadership Columbia program and named a Chamber Ambassador in 2011 She was named to the 2009 Columbia Business Times’ 20 Under 40

Lopez is a member of the Feeding Missouri Board of Directors, is past president of the King’s Daughters Donna Crockett Circle, is a former member of the Board of Directors of TRYPS Institute at Stephens College, a theatre program for children and schools, and is involved in numerous other volunteer activities in the community.

The Food Bank serves a 32-county area in central and northeast Missouri and works with 130 pantries, shelters and other partner agencies to feed, on average, 104,000 people a month. Every week during the school year, The Food Bank also provides 7,500 Buddy Packs of weekend food to children who receive free or reduced-price lunch at school.

Kirksville Motor Co., Toyota Donate $5,000

Kirksville Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., each donated $2,500 to The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri this month.

The $5,000 check presentation was held at Kirksville Motor Company March 2.

The Food Bank provides more than 1,200 Buddy Packs to children at eight schools in the Kirksville area, provides lunches during the summer through Food 4 Kids and provides local pantries and senior centers with nutritious food year round.

Across its 32-county service area, The Food Bank serves around 104,000 people every month and distributes 7,500 Buddy Packs to children every week during the school year.

“We are grateful for donations from partners like Kirksville Motor Company and Toyota,” said Bobbie Kincade, associate director. “We would not be able to distribute food without the support of our generous donors.”

CSFP boxes help seniors stay healthy

Pat Cassaday raves about the cheese she receives each month through her Commodity Supplemental Food Program box.

“I could not afford the cheese. It’s such a good product, there’s no way I would be able to have it if I did not get it through this program,” she said. “The canned beef stew is also a very good meal. We get cereal, milk, vegetables. One box a month lasts me quite a while.”

CSFP is a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that works to improve the health of low-income senior citizens by supplementing their diets with nutritious food. The Food Bank helps distribute nearly 2,000 of those boxes each month to agencies in 22 counties.

Pat receives her CSFP box through Douglass Community Support Services in Marion County. The agency, which also provides emergency food and other social services, distributes 215 so-called senior boxes each month, said Stacey Nicholas, the RSVP coordinator at the center.

“It provides good quality nutrition,” she said. “For some low-income seniors, it’s a gateway to get them interested in more nutritious food from the food pantry.”

And for many, she said, the boxes allow older adults to remain on their own.

“Many are fighting illnesses, and good health is key to keeping immune systems strong,” Stacey said.

For Pat, who also works at Douglass Community Support Services, the additional benefit helps her remain financially independent.

“I try to make it all work,” she said. “I do pretty well, but if I didn’t have this job to help me and the food given out, it would be different.”

Fayette Mobile Draws a Crowd

Emily Rademacher declined the bag of yellow onions, but the rest was an unexpected surprise for the college student struggling to support herself.

The potatoes, package of ribs, vegetables, boxes of cereal and crackers would be enough to last her a couple of weeks, she said.

Emily was not planning to go to The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri’s Mobile Food Pantry in Fayette during its monthly visit in January. From her apartment window, she happened to notice the truck and Food Bank staff distributing food in the parking lot across the street. When she asked around and found out she would qualify for free food, she was thrilled and made two trips to transport her allotment back to her apartment in a red laundry basket.

Emily is studying nursing with the help of scholarships and financial aid. Her parents, who recently relocated from Missouri to Florida, provide an allowance but it goes toward rent and other bills. Emily does not have a job in order to focus on studies.

“This will really help me out,” she said. “It will last a while. I was surprised by how much they gave me.”

The Food Bank’s Mobile Pantry visits Fayette on the third Thursday of each month. On a particularly cold January morning, families and individuals lined up an hour before the pantry was slated to open. The Food Bank team quickly set up to serve people immediately. In all, more than 125 individuals—roughly 55 families—were able to access food that day.

For Betty Leonard, the mobile pantry supplements her fixed income.

“After bills, there’s not much left,” she said. “So this helps a lot.”

Betty, a widow, raised four children, all of whom are now working adults with their own families.

“I sacrificed a lot to get them an education so that they’d be better off than I am,” she said.

Although she struggles with diabetes and high blood pressure, Betty said she makes an effort to eat well, and The Food Bank helps her make healthy choices.

Tim Marino and his wife, Michelle, rely on The Food Bank to help them support themselves. They met in a homeless shelter a year ago and married a month later. They’ve since been able to move out of the shelter and recently took in a 12-year-old boy whose mother is incarcerated.

Standing in line waiting for the pantry to open, Tim, a Gulf War veteran, and Herb Burr, a Vietnam veteran swapped combat stories.

“I remember the other guys grumbling, but I told them it’s what you make it,” Herb said. “The whole world is what you make it. Enjoy it.”

The people of Fayette are able to enjoy it a little more thanks to those who make The Food Bank’s Mobile Pantry possible, Betty noted.

“They are making a great gift,” she said, “by helping out the ones who aren’t fortunate enough to be able to purchase healthy food.”

Food Bank Welcomes New Directors

The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri welcomes Heather Hargrove, Michael Kateman and Amy Schneider to its Board of Directors.

Hargrove is sales manager at KRCG. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri and previously served as general manager of Holiday Inn Select Executive Center. She is a past president of the Chamber of Commerce’s Women’s Network and former chair of the Chamber of Commerce.

Kateman is director of internal communications at the UM System. Previously, he served as executive director of development, alumni and public relations at Columbia College. Kateman holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration and a master’s in journalism from MU, where he is currently pursuing his Ph.D.

Schneider has served as director of the Columbia Convention and Visitor’s Bureau since 2011. Previously, she was a sales manager for the CVB. She is a graduate of MU.

“These are dedicated professionals who all have a track record of leadership in Columbia,” Executive Director Lindsay Young Lopez said. “We are thrilled to have them join The Food Bank team.”

The new members completed orientation in mid-January and participated in their first board meeting Jan. 26.

The Board of Directors assists in guiding The Food Bank and its mission of feeding hungry people in a 32-county area. The Food Bank serves an average of 104,000 people a month.

Machens Continues to Give back

Making good on a promise to remain a partner in the Mid-Missouri community, Joe Machens Dealerships are donating $28,231 to The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri.

The money was raised during a five-day “Hunger Hits the Road” drive in December. Nine dealerships—eight in Columbia and one in Jefferson City—participated, donating $50 for every vehicle sold.

“We are so grateful to the Machens dealerships for their generosity,” Food Bank Executive Director Lindsay Young Lopez said. “Joe Machens sets a standard for philanthropy and service throughout the region, and we appreciate their ongoing partnership. The owners, employees and customers have made a significant difference in the lives of many, many of our neighbors.”

General managers will present the check to Lopez during a press conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13, at Joe Machens Volkswagen of Columbia, 1200 Vandiver Dr.

During the “Hunger Hits the Road” event, dealers raised an additional $2,131 and 5,615 pounds worth of food from customers for The Food Bank.

The total contribution is the equivalent of 429,080 pounds of food that will now be distributed to hundreds of thousands of area residents in need.

The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri serves approximately 114,000 people every month through 128 agencies.