BELLEVILLE — The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Belleville Council was one of nine St. Louis area charities chosen by the Bank of American Foundation to share $367,500 in grant money.

The $20,000 received by St. Vincent de Paul is unrestricted, so the charity can use it to help fund its many programs, Pat Hogrebe, executive director at St. Vincent de Paul, said.

St. Vincent de Paul works in collaboration with other local nonprofits in the area to provide crisis intervention, housing assistance and health services in 28 Southern Illinois counties.

"We are extremely grateful to Bank of America for this grant," Hogrebe said. "It allows us to continue our services to the poor."

Hogrebe estimates that private grants, such as this one, account for 35 percent of the organization's funding each year.

St. Vincent de Paul was chosen as a grant recipient because its mission aligns with two areas of focus for the Bank of America Foundation: hunger relief and food access, Bank of America St. Louis spokeswoman Michelle Tucker said in a statement.

The East St. Louis soup kitchen operated by St. Vincent de Paul serves more than 300 people every day. Two mobile kitchen buses go into different neighborhoods to feed the hungry four days per week.

The awards were part of more than $22 million in grants the Bank of America Foundation is providing to over 1,000 charities nationwide.

Other area organizations awarded grants were the St. Louis Area Foodbank, Cardinal Glennon Children's Foundation, Gateway Homeless Services (St. Louis) Inc., Haven Of Grace (St. Louis), Jewish Federation Of St. Louis, Old North St. Louis Restoration Group Inc., Operation Food Search Inc. and the United Way Of Greater St. Louis Inc.

Contact reporter Roger Starkey at rstarkey@bnd.com or 618-239-2535.