Menards aids Red Star Food Pantry with donation drive

The Cape Girardeau Menards store at 535 Siemers Drive has partnered with a local food pantry for its annual donation drive.

General manager Chris Shupert said the home improvement store is acquiring nonperishable food and other goods for the Cape Girardeau-based Red Star Food Pantry, whose organizers have been raising funding to keep it operational over the last month.

“We do have a team member that helps them out a little bit more, so having (them) assist getting food out to them is a pretty great fit, and they’re more local than the other, bigger named organizations,” Shupert said.

The company regularly hosts similar food drives, as well as other donation drives for toys during the fall.

“We typically do a one-month food drive several times throughout the year. This year, we’re going to do a three-month food drive Jan. 1 to March 31,” Shupert said.

Customers can donate to boxes positioned by the store exits. When they are full, the store contacts Red Star Food Pantry to collect them. Donated items do not have to come from Menards, though Shupert encourages cashiers to talk with customers about the drive.

He said more budget-friendly items are positioned close to the registers so customers could easily donate them if they would like.

Do you want more business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Go to www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.