At Givable, we want philanthropy to be a part of your daily rhythm. We strongly believe that giving makes happier and healthier people…and YOUR giving this year has made a difference in the lives of those around you.
This month our Givable team went to visit Operation Food Search (OFS), one of our non-profit partners in St. Louis. There we met Andrea Dent, an inspirational giver, who is making a huge difference to middle and high school students at Lift For Life Academy in the City of St. Louis.
For many of the kids at Lift For Life Academy, the no cost breakfast and lunch offered at school are a critical part of their daily food intake. Often times that third meal falls by the wayside because either the family cannot afford dinner or students who are bussed to and from school get home too late to eat that last meal.
Andrea saw a need at Lift For Life, and she didn’t think twice. She just responded. Andrea told us she heard about a student who said she needed to eat less when, in fact, this tiny high school girl was trying to make her family dollars last between her mother’s paychecks.
That’s when Andrea called OFS, and together they forged a plan to serve a “Super Snack” after school to any student who wanted – or needed – food. This daily “Super Snack” consists of a full serving of whole grains, fruit, vegetables, protein and milk.
In their first weeks of operating, Lift For Life served approximately 60 to 120 kids a day with just a few volunteers handing out the food. “If students don’t like part of what is offered, they can place it on a share table so others can take seconds and even thirds,” explained Andrea. “We have not had any food left over thanks to this method.”
Andrea said that, in the past, some of the kids have gone from lunch one day to breakfast the next without eating in between. That’s why “this Super Snack is a game changer. Those who stay for an after school program – including student athletes and band members – get hungry, and this meal fuels their minds and bodies through the later part of the day.”
Your Givable dollars go toward helping non-profits like OFS. When you and fellow Givable donors click to give, you all are providing a meal to kids at Lift For Life and so many other schools throughout our area. Your help is essentially making our community stronger.
Thank you Andrea, Operation Food Search, and our Givable donors. Together we are making a difference.
About Operation Food Search: Founded in 1981, OFS is a hunger relief organization that provides food and nutrition education. With a strategic focus aimed at ending childhood hunger, OFS empowers families with a range of programs and services proven to reduce food insecurity and increase access to healthy and affordable food. The agency helps feed more than 200,000 individuals on a monthly basis – one-third of which are children – through a network of 330 community partners (including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, senior centers and schools) in 31 Missouri and Illinois counties.