October 19, 2022
Filling a need
Around Town
SunRise Church’s Food for Hope program is in need of donations to support program that provides food for students in need at local school districts
Department of Public Health extends WIC services contract through 2023. Pg. 3
The new Wentzville Rec Center will celebrate its grand opening Nov. 7. Pg. 4
By Brett Auten The shelves at Food for Hope are getting dusty, and that is not a good thing for the school-aged in our area. SunRise Church’s Food for Hope has long provided non-perishable food items for the youth in need with a focus on middle and high schoolers and their families who have been identified by schools and/or organizations as being in need of food. “We are running super low right now,” Andrea Filla, SunRise coordinator, said. “Our pantry is bare and our donations have slowed down. We have told the school districts that we need a two week break to try and stock up. It’s an all-hands-on deck type of thing.” Food for Hope is run by volunteers and sustains itself through donations. Its objective is to provide middle school and high school youth with food to take home each evening, during holiday breaks and summer via a normal looking backpack to be able to provide a quick and easy meal for themselves and their families. Food for Hope currently supports the following schools: Fort Zumwalt West High (West Warehouse), Fort Zumwalt North Middle (Cougar Cabinet), Fort Zumwalt West Middle, Francis Howell High (Vikings Snack Pack), Wright City High, Fort Zumwalt South High, Wright City Middle, Fort Zumwalt North, Fort Zumwalt South Middle, and others.
A SENIOR MOMENT. Pg. 6
Features
Recipe, Movie & Sudoku. Pg. F-1 Submitted photo SunRise Church’s Food for Hope provides non-perishable food items for the youth in need with a focus on middle and high schoolers and their families who have been identified by schools and/or organizations as being in need of food.
On average, Food for Hope drops 30-to-40 bags a week in the Fort Zumwalt School District, while weekly lining food pantries in the Francis Howell School District and in Warren County. “We have to be creative because we are dealing with a different demographic,” Filla said. “In some situations, there is no refrigerator or microwave.” For the families they are assisting that are not part of the school district, they simply submit an online form and volunteers will deliver food bags to their homes. Food for
Hope doesn’t deal directly with the families, only the schools that are helping to support the families. Each school/organization has a volunteer assigned to it as the liaison between Filla and the individual schools. This volunteer communicates with the school to determine their current needs and relays those needs back to Filla. The volunteer also coordinates delivery of the food to the schools each month. “The biggest thing we need are non-perishable items,” Filla said. “Anything that they can See ‘NEED’ page 2
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