The St. Louis Area Foodbank will distribute more than 3,500,000 meals over the next 30 days. Whether you need help or can provide help during the spread of COVID-19, the organization is committed to helping provide nutritious food as detailed in their response plan online. While you’re stocking up, grab extra items like unsweetened applesauce, cans of tuna, canned peas, peanut butter or oatmeal and help make a difference with your donation.

The St. Louis Area Foodbank is featured in our 2020 issue of Sophisticated Giving.

Who We Are: Founded in 1975, the St. Louis Area Foodbank is the region’s largest provider of food and personal care items to those facing hunger. We are the only local food bank with United Way of Greater St. Louis and Feeding America memberships and are held to the highest level of fiscal accountability. In fact, 97 percent of our resources go toward food distribution efforts.

What We Do: The St. Louis Area Foodbank’s mission is to build stronger communities by empowering people with food and hope. We feed 392,000 people annually through a robust network of community-based hunger relief organizations and programs located in 26 counties throughout eastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois. Last year alone, the organization distributed more than 37 million meals to our neighbors in need.

Why We Are Important: No one can thrive on an empty stomach. Food is where it all starts. For the one in seven people in our region facing hunger, meeting this most basic need makes so much more possible – from steady employment to healthy lifestyles and even civic engagement. By providing food to those in need, we help our most vulnerable neighbors avoid the difficult choice between food and other basic necessities such as housing, utilities, medicine and transportation. Food banks are also important because many of the partner agencies that we serve are run entirely by volunteers or employ very few paid staff. They may be conducting food and funds drives on their own, but the results are often not enough to meet the demand in their communities. By leveraging relationships with manufacturers, farmers, and retail stores, food banks are able to fill in the gaps and provide agencies with better access to more nutritionally-diverse foods including produce, dairy and much-needed proteins.

How We Impact The Community: We know that families facing hunger often face other diet-related health concerns like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. As a result, the Foodbank works hard to ensure that at least 70 percent of everything going out of our doors is a “Food to Encourage.” Foods to Encourage fall under specific food groups that contribute to healthier lifestyles and align with USDA MyPlate guidelines. Specifically, we operate USDA programs that benefit seniors and school-age children, and we work with families moving from shelters to more permanent housing. The Foodbank also guides families through the process of applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which provides benefits commonly known as food stamps. These benefits provide a crucial resource to low-income individuals struggling with food insecurity.

How You Can Help: Volunteers work with us year-round to sort and pack food for distribution in our volunteer center. We engage 17,000 volunteers a year – of all ages and abilities – in the fight against hunger. Weekend and evening hours are available. In addition, we now offer offsite volunteer experiences as well. Ultimately, eliminating hunger is beyond the capacity of any single entity and requires collaboration between the public, our government partners and other charities. With that in mind, we invite groups of various sizes and ages to visit the Foodbank’s Hunger Engagement Center where we host educational events designed to raise awareness around hunger and the work being done to address it. Monetary donations are also a great help. Secure online donations can be made on our website while tax-deductible gifts may be made by cash or check. Other ways to contribute include monthly giving, federated campaigns, and corporate/foundation gifts. You can leave a legacy of feeding the hungry by designating the Foodbank as a beneficiary in bequests, charitable remainder trusts, annuities, and life insurance. For more information on how you can help fight hunger locally, please click on “Get Involved” at STLFoodbank.org.

St. Louis Area Foodbank

70 Corporate Woods Drive

Bridgeton, MO 63044

314.292.6262

STLFoodbank.org

Facebook: STLFoodbank 

Twitter: @STLFoodbank

Instagram: @STLFoodbank

BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS:                

Chair

Mike Pugh, Enterprise Holdings, Inc.

Executive Vice Chair

Andy Bartek, Edward Jones

Vice Chair

Chris Wilkins, Benson Hill Biosystems

Treasurer

Eric Ralph, Highland Associates

Secretary

Amanda Gioia, Mastercard

BOARD MEMBERS:

Nora Black, Lanter Delivery Systems

Cory Bricker, Cass Information Systems, Inc.

Maureen Bryan, Armstrong Teasdale

Julie Burns, Pritikin

Anthony Clarkson, Commerce Bank

Theresa Eckman, Community Volunteer

Mark Grieman, ROI Search Partners

David Kersten, Emerson

Steve McFadden, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits

Alisha Leveston, UPS

Jim Moore, Spire

Derrick Richardson, Community Volunteer

Amy Rodrigues, The Boeing Company

Luciano Salvatierra, Bunge North America

Darren Wallis, Bayer

Jessica Weathers, The Creative Group

Charity listing sponsored by a Sophisticated Giving Angel Donor