Local real estate agent, food pantry founder named Missouri’s 2020 Good Neighbor

Missouri Realtor Dennis Curtin has been deemed a Good Neighbor in Missouri for his efforts toward helping with food insecurity in his community. // Image courtesy of Missouri Realtors

Kansas City, MO. real estate agent Dennis Curtin has just received the honor of being deemed the recipient of Missouri’s 2020 Good Neighbor Award.

This award comes with a $2,500 check toward the recipient’s designated charity. The Missouri Good Neighbor Award is given annually to a Missouri Realtor who is dedicated to volunteer service.

Curtin is the founder of nonprofit organization Mimi’s Pantry, which provides food to individuals and families facing food insecurity. He founded Mimi’s Pantry in the inspiration of his mother, Lillian Curtin.

“I determined that food supply was never really the problem, it’s food distribution,” Curtin says. “When I started this, my hope and my goal was that this would turn into a community asset.”

The pantry offers patrons a full range of food items and a library of books. Its doors are open from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Wednesday each week, and from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. every first and third Saturday of the month.

“We know that kids thrive in school when they have books in the home, and when they’re well-fed and healthy,” says Mimi’s Pantry volunteer Marti Lamar.

Nearly 1 in 8 families in the Platte and Clay County areas are not sure they will be able to consistently meet their food needs, according to Mimi’s Pantry’s website. Food insecurity has only become more prevalent throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as nearly 1 in 4 children are facing food insecurity because of it. 

“That’s just hard to swallow,” says Kelly Curtin-Catterson, executive director of Mimi’s Pantry. “That’s also where we know that even though it’s a tiny little dent, that we are at least making a difference, and helping people that really need it.”