On the fourth Tuesday of every month, cars line up in front of CrossRoads Fellowship Church, 4400 E. Jackson Blvd. in Jackson, to receive food distributed by the Southeast Missouri Food Bank.
Evan Holm, an eighth-grader at Jackson Junior High and a member of Boy Scout Troop 210, has helped transfer the food from the truck or van which brings the food from the Sikeston warehouse to individual cars.
As he looked around at other volunteers who were much older than he, he saw them struggling to lift and carry the heavy boxes, and many of them wore back braces.
A light bulb flashed on in Holm’s mind, and he brought his idea to Joey Keys, president and CEO of the food bank. “Evan contacted us about a project,” Keys said. For his Eagle Scout project, Holms wanted to purchase, assemble and donate carts to help transport the food from the trucks to the cars.
Holms asked Keys what type of carts to buy, and then set about fundraising to pay for them. Beginning in June, he baked different types of bread, which he sold, and he also saved the money that he earned mowing lawns. When he had accumulated about $400, he had enough to purchase four carts.
With the help of fellow scouts, Holms assembled the carts. He said the others did the actual work and he supervised. He also purchased plaques that went on the side of the carts. They read: “Eagle Scout Project, Evan Holm, Troop 210, Dedicated to Southeast Missouri Food Bank, Boy Scouts of America.”
Evan is the son of Andy and Anne Holm of Jackson. Both Andy and Evan’s older brother, Eli, were Eagle Scouts.
Keys noted that food distribution doubled in Cape Girardeau County this past summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people were out of work and needed food. That has eased up in recent months as the economy reopened, but the Food Bank is still serving more people than before.
During an average month, the Food Bank served 60,000 people in multiple counties. In September, the number served was not double, but it still was 85,000 people.
Evan Holm’s carts will be put to good use.
