Refrigerated truck donated to SEMO Food Bank

SIKESTON – Teamwork makes the dream work, as the saying goes.

Southeast Missouri Food Bank had been dreaming of getting another refrigerated truck to meet the demand for transporting food to its member pantries and for mobile truck-to-table food pantries in its 16-county service area. Some time ago, former Executive Director Karen Green shared that dream with members of the Mission Committee at First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau.

Church treasurer and former co-chair of the Mission Committee Charles Wiles recalled what transpired next.

“It just so happened that church member Will Bahn had a truck that would fit the need,” Wiles said. “Will wasn’t in the meeting, but his wife Dr. Jana Tuck-Bahn was, and she knew he had this truck that might work. So she said, ‘What if someone had a truck to donate?’ And it just blossomed from there.”

Wiles and food bank Warehouse Manager Tom Ward went to Bahn’s farm to look at the truck and decided it would be a good fit.

“Several of us had just seen something on the KFVS news about food deserts,” Wiles said. “We knew how important trucks like these are to getting food, especially fresh produce, to needy people in areas where there may not be easy access to affordable sources of food. As a church we believe we are called to take care of all of our brothers and sisters, so helping with this project was a good fit with our mission as a congregation.”

About the same time, Tag Truck Center in Sikeston, which had done previous work with the food bank, had a 9-foot by 26-foot refrigerated truck bed that was left over from someone who needed a truck but not the box that came with it. The truck center donated the box to the food bank, making the package complete.

As the icing on this multi-layered cake, First Presbyterian Church offered to pay for the design and printing of a full-color wrap for the truck bed.

“We thought we should complete the project and get it painted and pretty, so we worked with rustmedia to have color wrap done for the truck box,” Wiles said. “We’ve worked with the food bank before to do mobile pantries at our church and at each of the schools here in Cape so we have a history with them.”

For their part, the food bank had about $15,000 of mechanical work done on the truck, including installation of a lift-gate for the bed. The work was just completed, and the truck was delivered on Oct. 24.

“This truck is an excellent example of how a community comes together with each organization contributing its part to make something big happen,” said current food bank Chief Executive Officer Joey Keys. “This refrigerated truck is a much-needed addition to our small fleet and will play in an important role in our mission to get healthy, nutritious food to the people who need it. We are incredibly appreciative of everything First Presbyterian Church, Tag Truck Center and many others did to bring this to fruition.”

SEMO Food Bank acquires and provides nearly 12 million pounds of food a year to 140 member food pantries, soup kitchens, and domestic violence and homeless shelters in its 16-county service area. The food bank also partners with churches and other organizations to provide truck-to-table mobile food pantries, and partners with schools to provide weekend backpacks of food to students in food-insecure families.