Gratitude. Kindness. Selfless Service.
Gratitude. Kindness. Selfless Service. These are the words that come to my mind as I reflect on “Hunger Action Month” and all of the incredible people, companies, and groups that stepped up in September to help us provide food and hope to so many that are currently facing food insecurity. From traditional food drives and virtual food drives to volunteering [...]
Behind the Scenes: Reshaunda Thornton’s Visit to the Foodbank
Behind the Scenes: Reshaunda Thornton’s Visit to the Foodbank Recently, Reshaunda Thornton of the Dietician Against Diets podcast visited the Foodbank to learn more about what we do and how we do it. Like a lot of people, prior to visiting the Foodbank, Reshaunda imagined our facility was closer in size to many of our partner food pantries. She was [...]
What Can I Do To Help?
Well, we made it to September everyone! For many parents, this month traditionally means kiddos are back in school, fall sports are in full swing and we start thinking about making plans for spending the holidays with families and friends. This year is anything but traditional, and many parents are now adapting to their kids learning from home with no [...]
Hope Will Help Us Through This
Hope Will Help Us Through This James Stockdale, a veteran of the Vietnam War who spent seven years as a prisoner of war, attributed his survival to a simple ideal: “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts [...]
Nourishing the Soul
Nourishing the Soul Since March, the number of people coming to the dozens of Mobile Markets being held each week across the region has not dwindled. In many instances, people begin lining up in their cars or sometimes on foot, patiently waiting, two to three hours before the Mobile Market is slated to start. While the volunteers placed the boxes [...]
Food Insecurity is Real No Matter Where You Live
It doesn’t matter where you live — from suburbia to urban to rural — not knowing when your next meal is coming from (or even having food) is real to tens of millions of people every year in the U.S. And people needing assistance with food has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the majority of everyday life for most [...]
Mile After Mile, St. Louis Area Foodbank Drivers Keep Delivering
Monday through Friday, between 6 and 7 a.m. the 14-member team of drivers (which quickly jumped to 19 with the onset of COVID-19) for St. Louis Area Foodbank set out on daily routes to deliver or pick up food across 14 counties in Missouri and 12 counties in Illinois. Some of these routes are more than 100 miles in one [...]
Safe Space Commissary Delivers More Than Food
You’ll find Safe Space Commissary in an unassuming looking church (which has a long history) basement in the historic, tightly-knit Ville neighborhood in northwest St. Louis city, next to Sumner High School. When the pandemic hit, Melanie Forbis of Safe Space realized this newly formed after school program, through The Ville Community Development Foundation, needed to evolve. They knew [...]
16 Million Strong and Counting
The heat -- and the humidity -- have settled in across the Midwest. Except for that, it’s a far cry from a typical summer full of outdoor festivals, summer camps, swimming, Cardinals baseball, stay-cations to the top of the Arch, Six Flags, the zoo, and the multitudes of other activities found across St. Louis and the surrounding region. Instead, people [...]
Feeding Hope During a Pandemic
A meal provides hope, but how do you provide hope in the midst of a global pandemic? There is no playbook for something like Covid-19. Suddenly, a number of our employees were working from home. Many days my daughter had to join me in the office. For weeks, it felt like each day brought more questions than answers. Throughout these [...]