St. Louis, Mo., :  Operation Food Search (OFS), a non-profit hunger relief organization, recently received $30,000 from Bank of America.  OFS will use this grant to support its summer meals program, which ensures that children 18 years of age and younger continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session.

The Bank of America funding will enable OFS to expand its partnerships in St. Louis County, St. Louis City and surrounding counties with a goal to increase child participation rates.  Since the program began in 2012, OFS and community partners have served more than 350,000 meals.  This summer the agency has a goal to serve a total of 100,000 meals throughout the St. Louis region.

“Hunger negatively impacts education, health and the economic vitality of our state both now and for future generations,” said OFS’s Executive Director Kristen Wild.  “Our program works thanks to the participation of companies like Bank of America because they recognize childhood hunger is a regional issue that needs to be eliminated.”  Wild added that, according to Feeding America’s 2019 Map the Meal Gap Report, “241,830 Missouri children live under the shadow of hunger including approximately 125,580 children in the St. Louis metropolitan area.”