Operation Food Search is a St. Louis hunger-relief organization with a distinctive approach: alongside distributing food, it focuses heavily on nutrition education and on tackling the root causes of hunger. Founded in 1981, it moves more than $32 million worth of food and necessities a year through hundreds of community partners across the St. Louis metro in Missouri and Illinois, reaching about 200,000 people a month, roughly a third of them children. Kristen Wild serves as President and CEO. Operation Food Search holds a four-star Charity Navigator rating.
Operation Food Search distributes more than $32 million worth of food and necessities a year through hundreds of community partners across the St. Louis metro. What sets it apart from a standard food bank is its emphasis on the causes of hunger: it runs nutrition-education programs, cooking and food-skills initiatives, and advocacy work aimed at reducing the need for emergency food in the first place, alongside the food it hands out today.
Kristen Wild serves as President and CEO of Operation Food Search, leading an organization that has expanded its headquarters and broadened its mission beyond distribution toward longer-term solutions. Under her, the organization holds a four-star Charity Navigator rating, the highest the rater gives.
Operation Food Search serves the St. Louis metro region, spanning counties in both Missouri and Illinois, and reaches about 200,000 people a month. A striking share of those served, roughly a third, are children, which shapes the organization’s focus on nutrition and on programs that support families over time.
Yes. Operation Food Search is a registered 501(c)(3) and a Feeding America member with a four-star Charity Navigator rating, the highest available. Because so much of its supply is donated, the value of food it distributes far exceeds its operating budget.
Donations and volunteer shifts run through operationfoodsearch.org. Volunteers help with distribution and nutrition programs, and cash gifts go furthest because of the organization’s purchasing power and donated supply.
Operation Food Search serves the St. Louis metro with a focus on direct distribution and nutrition, complementing the broader St. Louis Area Foodbank in the same region. On the other side of the state, Harvesters covers Kansas City. For St. Louis donors who care about nutrition and root causes, Operation Food Search stands out.
Hundreds of community partners across the St. Louis metro.
Cooking and food-skills programs for families.
Advocacy and programs aimed at reducing the need for emergency food.
A focus on kids, who are about a third of those served.
Sources: Operation Food Search website (operationfoodsearch.org), Charity Navigator and GuideStar (EIN 43-1241854), and KSDK reporting on the headquarters expansion. We are not affiliated with Operation Food Search and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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