The St. Louis Area Foodbank’s mission is to build stronger communities by empowering people with food and hope. We gather and distribute over 43 million pounds of food each year to 500+ food pantries, homeless shelters, soup kitchens and community program partners throughout 14 counties in eastern Missouri and 12 counties in southwestern Illinois. We help the elderly, single-parent families, veterans and the working poor. Children comprise the largest segment of the population in need of food. Hunger does not discriminate. It affects poor and homeless people in urban and rural areas.