Ritenour Co-Care Food Pantry

During COVID the average number of pantry visits/day has increased to the point we are serving a family every two minutes, four days/week, four hours/day. Currently, families can visit the pantry weekly. Clients must live within the boundaries of the Ritenour School District. The pantry offers food insufficient families a generous supply of dairy, fresh produce, frozen meat, bread, and shelf stable foods for their families. Prior to COVID we operated as a choice pantry which means the families are free to shop and choose the foods they need and want. Families chose their food according to the the size of their household. Due to COVID food is currently distributed curbside with the help of the National Guard. We are provided with an abundant supply of food from the St. Louis Area Food Bank and Operation Food search almost every day of the week. The pantry is 100% volunteer run by a team of 25 volunteers, with the average volunteer age being 71. The 2020 value of volunteer hours was $150,000.

We are a 501 (c) 3 non profit corporation governed by a board of directors. This past year we provided over $1,107,242 worth of food to our clients; this amount does not include in-kind food donations from the community. In 2020 the pantry purchased $30,000 worth of food due to extremely high demand during COVID. We are a separate 501C3 but have a very close partnership with Ritenour School District.

In 2021 the pantry will undertake a strategic planning process.