Food Outreach

Renee Johnson, a third-generation United States Air Force veteran and two-time Food Outreach client.

Food Outreach is the only St. Louis-area organization providing free nutritional support to individuals facing food insecurity while living with HIV or cancer. Founded in 1988, we now provide healthy meals, dietetic counseling, and education to over 1,800 nieghbors. Community support allows us to deliver services with the excellence and kindness everyone deserves — no matter who they love, what they look like, or where they live.

Serving individuals living with HIV and/or cancer living at or below the Federal Poverty Line, and never with a waitlist, our free offerings include: nutritious meals, groceries, and fresh produce, a program designed by our Chef and Registered Dietitians; individualized dietetic counseling and nutrition classes; and meals home-delivered to clients struggling with HIV and cancer. Our programs provide each client with two nutritious meals per day throughout enrollment, combined with nutrition counseling and monitoring by our Registered Dietitians. 

In 2025, Food Outreach offered these services for clients living in over 160 area zip codes, including 540,750 meals, 3,800 of which were personally home-delivered. And by the end of 2026, our agency will be the first and only Food Is Medicine Coalition-accredited provider in the state, meeting rigorous national standards to provide wellness and empowerment through "medically tailored" meals and groceries.

Hear the impact from a client: 

“At Food Outreach, I felt like I had a sense of support. I didn’t have very much support when I was going through my cancer treatment. My spouse at that time was filing for divorce. All of my parents and grandparents and godparents are gone. And I was facing this pretty much by myself. Food Outreach was the one place that I always looked forward to coming to... Sitting in the infusion room by myself, it was nice to know that I was getting ready to go to Food Outreach, because that’s where I got my sense of community... Food Outreach served me in that way — it was so much more than just the food.”

- Renee Johnson, a third-generation United States Air Force veteran and two-time Food Outreach client.