The 24th annual Partnership Against Hunger food drive finished on Tuesday.

The food bank for Central and Northeast Missouri collected donations all day across Columbia.

According to the 2025 Missouri Hunger Atlas , an estimated 779,000 people are food insecure in Missouri.

Ronnie Lea, a father of two, says it's important to help when he can.

"I decided to donate just because I can. I know people need help, especially this time of the year. Just being thankful for what I do have and being able to share that with others."

For Lea, helping others around the holidays is something he's done before.

"When I was in high school, I helped organize food drives at my school during the holidays where we'd go around to the community and give the food to families that needed it."

Lea has past e

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