Neighbor News
Operation Barbecue Raises $30,000+ for Backpack Program
Operation Food Search Partners with Sugarfire at Event to Address Child Hunger
July 14, 2021 (St. Louis, MO) -- Operation Food Search (OFS), a non-profit hunger relief organization, raised more than $30,000 at the first Operation Barbecue event, held in partnership with Sugarfire Smoke House.
Proceeds will support OFS’s Operation Backpack program, which distributes approximately 8,500 sacks of kid-friendly, shelf-stable food each week to get students through the weekend when school meals are not available.
“Operation Backpack enables students to return to school each Monday with the good nutrition and focus they need to achieve academic success,” said Kristen Wild, OFS president and CEO. “We appreciate Chef Matt Glickert and Sugarfire for working alongside us to benefit this exceptional program.”
Missouri’s child food insecurity rate is 24%, meaning 1 in 4 kids is at risk of hunger. The backpack program is one of OFS’s must successful since it began in 2008.
Event guests received recipes and instructions from Chef Glickert for preparing a full meal including chicken, shrimp and vegetable kabobs, creamy lemon herb coleslaw, and grilled Yukon gold potato salad during the virtual cooking class. Ingredients plus an optional beer pairing of four cans of 4 Hands City Wide Beer were available for pick up before the event.
“OFS’s Friends Board presented this event. Because of their dedication to our mission, young students will have the food they need to get through the weekend and back to class,” said Wild.
Founded in 1981, Operation Food Search (OFS) is a hunger relief organization located at 1644 Lotsie Blvd. that provides free food, nutrition education and innovative programs proven to reduce food insecurity. With a strategic focus aimed at ending childhood hunger, OFS empowers families and increases access to healthy and affordable food. The agency provides food and services to 200,000 individuals on a monthly basis – one-third of whom are children – through a network of 330 community partners in 27 Missouri and Illinois counties and the city of St. Louis.
