Without The Food Bank, central Missouri's only shelter for children would spend more resources putting meals on the table.
Rainbow House, which provides emergency housing for children and young adults up to age 22, is one of 133 partner agencies that receive food from The Food Bank at no charge.
That means Rainbow House can spend its funding on needs other than groceries.
"The Food Bank saves Rainbow House a lot of money," says Katelyn Sanders, a shelter advocate and youth specialist. "While we have a budget for it, there are lots of other things that money can go for."
In addition to providing food at no cost, The Food Bank also saves the staff there time and hassle, Sanders said.
"The Food Bank is super helpful for a lot of different reasons, one being grocery shopping," she said. "Sometimes we have as many as 14 kids and trying to go grocery shopping for 14 kids and having even a few of those kids in tow, it's not really fun. With The Food Bank, there's an online system where the supervisor can go and see what's available right from her computer. She doesn't have to leave the shelter."
Rainbow House then picks up that food order every two weeks.
"Without The Food Bank, Rainbow House would spend a lot more time and money on groceries," Sanders said. "We would have less time to be hands on with the kids."
In 2016, The Food Bank distributed more than 5,700 pounds of food to Rainbow House. A distribution report showing all food allocated to The Food Bank's partner agencies will be available later this month.
