The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

KIRKSVILLE, MO --  

The latest report from Feeding America shows one in eight Missourians are receiving help from food banks.
    
Our Fact Finder Team spoke with a representative of the Central Missouri Food Bank for local numbers.
    
Fact Finder discovered one in 10 people in Kirksville are turning to food pantries to feed their families. A local representative has been contacting pastors and businesses for assistance.

“To just kind of give them an update, here's what's going on and we've seen our poverty population increase obviously a lot as unemployment has increased and so we're starting to create community awareness, get people involved, brothers helping brothers, neighbors helping neighbors, that's what it all boils down to, everybody can make a difference,” said Steve Youngblood, Community Developer, Central Missouri Food Bank.
   
This is a critical time for food drives and donations to food banks.
    
Fact Finder learned the Central Missouri Food Bank distributed 870,000 pounds of food last year; that’s 300,000 more than in 2008.