St. Louis Area Foodbank looking for volunteers

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) – Volunteers play a large role in the St. Louis Area foodbank.

The majority of the volunteering happens in the repacking and sorting center, where food donations are sorted. The food will be packaged in perfect portions for local families.

Tim Morrison is a lead volunteer at the St. Louis Area Foodbank. He has spent nearly 800 hours volunteering there since early 2020 but has also served his neighbors through the foodbank for years.

“I taught at Parkway South and I bought kids on a number of service projects that we had,” he said.

Last year, the foodbank alone distributed 46 million meals across the bi-state, which wouldn’t have been made possible without volunteers.

“If we had to hire staff to do what volunteers come in and willingly give of their time to do, we’d be having to raise a lot more money,” said Cobi Gillespie, director of volunteer services.

Outside of food and monetary donations, the foodbank is seeking more volunteers.

“We have the equivalent of about 50,000 volunteer hours that come in from across the community every year. That’s about 24 full-time associates,” St. Louis Area Foodbank CEO Meredith Knopp said.

That need has grown as the cost of providing for a family has drastically changed.

Click here for ways to get involved with the St. Louis Area Foodbank.

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