With food donations down, local hunger-relief organization Operation Food Search is working even harder to provide assistance to St. Louisans in need.
“The people we serve continue to face hardship as the pandemic continues, and the impact will be felt even after we’ve gotten it under control,” said Kristen Wild, executive director of Operation Food Search (OFS). “Though we have worked out strategies to serve as many people as possible, the need is greater than we can currently meet.”
Normally, OFS recruits thousands of volunteers to help gather, sort and package food and other household essentials for distribution to its partner agencies. But the pandemic has made such efforts limited.
“We can’t safely bring groups back into the warehouse yet,” Wild said. “We are relying on food drive donations and financial donations more than ever so that we can get help to the community. Food insecurity has risen to 19% overall in Missouri, and one in four children is now at risk of hunger. Unfortunately, that number will not improve quickly.”
Wild says the pandemic forced the cancellation of events that Operation Food Search has traditionally relied on to stock its warehouse. As a result, the organization has had to come up with new ways to address the shortage of food donations, including partnering with grocery stores, food distributors and local farmers to “rescue” fresh food that would otherwise end up in landfills.
More than $10 million in food was diverted from landfills between April and September, according to Wild, making it possible for OFS to continue distributing food to 200,000 St. Louis-area residents a month, as well as provide an additional 1 million meals last year through its extended Summer Food Service program.
“We formed new partnerships that enabled us to provide more produce than ever before: nearly 4 million pounds worth!” Wild said. “It has put all of us to the test trying to keep up with the demand by finding new sources, partnerships and distribution channels. But we are extremely grateful that donor support and federal funding has enabled us to respond to the crisis.”
The organization’s upcoming golf tournament is another way OFS hopes to make up for the shortfall brought on by the COVID-19 crisis. The 28th annual Swing to Heal Hunger golf tournament will be held on Monday, Oct. 4, at WingHaven Country Club. Tickets – which are $350 per golfer or $1,400 per team of four golfers – include 18 holes with a golf cart, golf goody bag, lunch, dinner and an auction. Proceeds will go toward OFS programs designed to end childhood hunger and family food insecurity in the St. Louis bi-state region.
“We have to keep up the work and the momentum in order to be able to help everyone put food on the table,” Wild said.
For more information on the golf tournament, including registration and sponsorships, click here.
