Birthday baskets are volunteer-assembled baskets that we gift to clients during their birth month. Inside each basket is an assortment of food items, toiletries, and age-specific small gift items. The gifts are different based on what is donated, but we always provide a cake mix, icing, and cake pan.

As a fun way to get involved, contact us today for an itemized list of items we use for the baskets! 

Recognizing the cost and need for school supplies, we research the supply lists of each grade of the local schools. Using donations from volunteers, civic organizations, churches, and retail stores, the food pantry offers school book bags filled with the items youth need, from writing utensils, folders, and flash drives, to hand sanitizer, tissue boxes, and binders.

Provided to clients in the fall and spring, contact us on how you can help support this initiative today! 

Registered nurses from the Mercy volunteer program through Mercy Neighborhood Services provide health screenings to clients during food pantry hours. Blood pressure and blood sugar screening, nutrition, health habit education, and, and medication instruction are available. Additionally, assistance in locating health providers close by is available. 

Collaborating with Operation Food Search, we provide evidence-based nutrition education to residents of Wellston. Education about shopping, cooking, and nutrition helps build the food skills needed to put healthy meals on the table every day. Because low-income families are frequently preparing meals at home, strategies to help make those home-cooked meals are critical in the fight to end hunger.

Our Nutrition Nook offers focuses on what is currently in season, short and easy recipes, and how to cook/store/enjoy certain foods. 

Through the St. Louis Area Foodbank, we distribute boxes of shelf-stable foods to eligible seniors. This program is intended to help low-income seniors supplement the food they can afford to buy at the store.

Each box includes:

• low-sodium, low-sugar cereal and juice

• canned vegetables and fruits

• shelf-stable milk

• pasta, rice or other grains

• the infamous brick of cheese

Our Utility Assistance Program aims to help our low-income clients with their utility bills, providing vital assistance during both winter and summer. Low income individuals and families pay a high proportion of their household income for home energy and are often forced to make decisions between paying for energy, buying food or medicine. We provide funding to low-income households especially elderly, disabled and families with young children because insufficient heating and cooling can cause health and safety issues. By making direct pledges to their Spire or Ameren accounts, we are able to provide immediate relief.