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Apartment complexes across Columbia, along with their residents, gathered more than 2,400 pounds of food for neighbors in The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri’s service area this summer.
This year marked the second annual Summer Move Out Food Drive, designed to reduce waste and nourish neighbors in our community. The drive happens at a time when many people may be planning to move out of their apartments. This year, nearly two dozen participating complexes placed barrels from The Food Bank in their lobbies so residents could donate unopened food that might otherwise be thrown away.
Marchya, a property manager at Rise on 9th, said participating was a simple process.
“This is one of the easiest volunteer opportunities that we've ever been a part of. Honestly, just by leaving these (barrels) down here, it's something that residents see as soon as they walk in the door. Whether they're going to the grocery store, whether they're moving and they don't want to bring items,” Marchya said. “These (barrels) became filled almost immediately. So it was really easy for us.”
Rylee, a food and fund drive specialist at The Food Bank, drops off empty barrels in May and then regularly stops by the apartment complexes to pick up items throughout the summer. Rylee brings the barrels back to our warehouse, weighs them and then reports the totals back to the apartment complexes.
Residents at Rise on 9th donated 349 pounds of food this summer, outdoing their 2025 total by more than 100 pounds. Rise on 9th says it seeks opportunities to make a difference in its community.
“We're really big on volunteering. Partnering with The Food Bank gave us a really good chance for all of our residents that were moving out to leave the items that they wanted to donate to The Food Bank and help out everybody in the community,” Marchya said.
Altogether, the Summer Move Out Drive collected over 2,400 pounds of food. Feeding America estimates that a meal weighs about 1.2 pounds. This means the drive gathered around 2,000 meals for neighbors facing food insecurity.
After Rylee weighs each barrel, she takes it to the Volunteer Room at The Food Bank. There, volunteers sort through each item to ensure food safety. They check best-by dates and make sure none of the products have been opened or damaged. The donated food can then be distributed throughout our network of partner agencies across 32 counties, helping them share food and bring hope to the 100,000 neighbors we serve each month.
It takes a community to address food insecurity. Whether you host a food drive, donate food, spend two hours in our Volunteer Room, or volunteer at one of our partner food pantries, each role makes a difference.
Thank you to all of the complexes that participated in the 2026 Summer Move Out Food Drive! If you are a property manager and would like to learn how to participate in the 2027 Summer Move Out Food Drive, contact Rylee at RLindsay@sharefoodbringhope.org.
If you’d like to sign up for a shift in our Volunteer Room, check out the list of opportunities on our website.