By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Regional charities which feed the needy have benefited from a donation provided by Mosaic Life Care.
As part of being presented the Servant’s Heart award by Mosaic, Advanced Practice Provider Charles Chatfield directed a $500 donation to area food banks.
The Open Door Food Kitchen’s Katie Burris says demand at the downtown St. Joseph facility has been increasing.
“We see a lot of people coming in, in need of a meal,” Burris tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “Our numbers have increased significantly here in the past six months. We’ve gone up over 200 meals a day that we prepare.”
Burris says the food kitchen has not been able to determine exactly what is causing the increase in demand, but she says the Open Door Food Kitchen has been able to continue to meet the need.
“We are meeting the demand,” Burris says. “It was a little scary in the beginning, because we can’t run out of food. We serve from 11 to 12:30 every day. Making sure that last half hour we have plenty of food for a fresh person that just walks in has been a little bit of a struggle, but we’ve been managing it.”
Money is also going to Maryville and Albany.
Tim Dean with the Ministry Center in Maryville says such donations help a great deal.
“This goes a long way,” Dean tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “Well, we survive on that. We survive on these kinds of donations.”
Dean says the ministry in Maryville has seen steady demand.
“There is a good demand and the need for people to be able to get this opportunity to get food and/or clothing,” according to Dean.
The food pantry in Albany will also get some of the money.