One in every six individuals lives in poverty and struggles with hunger in the greater St. Louis region, including more than 172,000 children.
For the eighth year running, John Burroughs School field house will serve as the packaging center for St. Louis World Food Day on Friday, Nov. 1, with more than 2,000 St. Louisans working side by side to help make a difference in the fight against hunger.
World Food Day is a worldwide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-round action to alleviate hunger. It is observed each year in recognition of the founding of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945.
Mary Beth Soffer, one of the local event organizers, said her family became involved after her son participated in a St. Louis meal packaging held in St. Louis in 2010 and 2011.
“When it was cancelled in 2012, we committed as a family to keep the event going. St. Louis World Food Day Inc. was granted 501(c)(3) status in 2012, and John Burroughs School has served as the packaging center since October 2012,” Soffer said.
Since then, more than 2.7 million meals have been assembled, helping to feed hundreds of thousands of hungry people. Last year, 470,664 meals were amassed in a single day. The food packages help to feed the hungry in both local and international communities.
“The rice and bean meals are distributed by our international partner, the Outreach Program, and for the last seven years, have helped sustain a school-based feeding program in Tanzania,” Soffer said. “These vitamin-fortified meals have a shelf life of two years and ensure that the students served by the feeding program receive at least one nourishing meal per day.
“The vitamin-fortified macaroni and cheese meals are distributed to food pantries and affiliated food bank organizations within one week of the event by our local partner, the St. Louis Area Foodbank, nourishing area malnourished children and adults,” she added.
Each year, St. Louis World Food Day, Inc., organizes the event’s operation and execution with an all-volunteer force, while the packaging happens in the field house at John Burroughs. And Soffer said the school ensures the success of this annual hunger-relief initiative in a number of ways.
“The school’s plant operations department plays a pivotal role in supporting the delivery and unloading of the meal packaging ingredients and supplies for several days prior to the event,” she said. “John Burroughs’ central location makes the event easily accessible to a number of area school groups, businesses and individuals.
The St. Louis Area Foodbank and the Outreach Program cite the size and quality of the school’s physical plant, the dedication of the plant operations team, as well as ease of access to the loading dock and ample parking, as many of the attributes that make John Burroughs School an ideal venue for a meal packaging event of this size.
St. Louisans (ages 7 and older) will work one-hour shifts to package the meals from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 1. People from all walks of life, from executives to grade schoolers will work together toward the common goal of alleviating hunger. The meals are designed to reverse the starvation process and restore health. Each packet feeds up to six children. The cost of each life-sustaining meal is about 25 cents, which covers the ingredients, packaging, administration and international shipping of the food.
Pre-registration is required and registration fees ($10 students/educators; $20 adults) help defray a portion of the cost of packaging ingredients, supplies and meal distribution. Volunteers may participate on their own or as part of a team. Parking will be available in the Clayton Road (9243 Clayton Road) and Price Road (755 S. Price Road) parking lots.
A special high school student packaging opportunity runs from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. (students must be in teams and accompanied by faculty or parent chaperones). There is no registration fee for the high school rally participants, but donations will be accepted. Pre-registration is required.
Contributions to the St. Louis World Food Day organization are fully tax-deductible. Checks can be mailed to St. Louis World Food Day Inc., P.O. Box 33156, St. Louis, MO 63131, or made online at stlwfd.org/donate. For more information or to register for the event, visit www.stlwfd.org.
Alarming Hunger Facts
● Poverty is the principal cause of hunger.
● Six million children, under the age of 5, die every year as a result of hunger.
● A child dies every six seconds from malnutrition and related causes.
● Fifty-four countries do not produce enough food to feed their populations, nor can they afford to import the necessary commodities to make the gap. Most of these countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa.
● More than 1 billion people are undernourished worldwide.
● Children who are poorly nourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year.
● Malnutrition affects 32.5% of children in developing countries.
● In 2014, more than 48 million people in America live in food-insecure households, including 32.8 million adults and 15.3 million children.
● Missouri’s household food insecurity rate (16.8%) is higher than the U.S. national average (14.3%).
