Our Commitment to Community

Food Outreach was built on a simple belief: no one in our community should face hunger alone, especially those living with a serious illness. That belief has guided every meal we’ve prepared, every door we’ve opened, and every life we’ve touched over our 38-year history. It still guides us today as we provide our services to neighbors living with food insecurity and HIV and cancer.

For nearly four decades, we’ve helped a community that too often had nowhere else to turn, and we want to speak directly to that community about a very difficult moment for the Food Outreach family.

Our mission starts with our people. What we do would not be possible without the selfless support of so many over the years. We have deep respect and appreciation for every person who has contributed to our mission. Every person, each moment, every contribution to our mission. It matters.

At the same time, we have a responsibility to our entire Food Outreach family: our staff, the 1,500+ volunteers who donated more than 17,000 hours last year, the donors and partners who fund this work, and above all, the nearly 2,000 individuals and families who depend on us for the nutrition that supports their treatment and their lives. When we make difficult decisions, we make them with this entire community in mind, and we cannot allow a single issue or person to come at the expense of the people and relationships that sustain our mission.

Recently, we were faced with the difficult decision to part ways with a member of our team who dedicated a great deal of service to Food Outreach. Their time here mattered. Their contributions to this organization mattered. That will always be true, and we are grateful for their role in helping us make a difference to those who need it most.

We understand that for some this has raised concerns, and some of you have already raised them with us. We welcome respectful and honest conversations with you about our organizational values and our mission, and our commitment to the community we serve.

What has not changed—and what will never change—is what matters most: Food Outreach will continue showing up for the people who need us. This month, next month, and for years to come. With love, with purpose, and with the support of a community that believes no one should go hungry.

Each year, Food Outreach provides more than 550,000 meals to nearly 2,000 individuals across 144 Missouri and Illinois zip codes battling hunger and living with HIV, cancer and other chronic illnesses. We are grateful for every hand that helps make that possible, and we look forward to every hand that will help us move forward.

Julie Lock

Executive Director

Amy Hoch Hogenson

President of the Board of Directors

Inquiries: [email protected]