Feed My People in High Ridge has recently expanded, allowing for more storage in both the on-site food pantry and thrift store. Volunteers with the nonprofit organization, along with members of the Fenton and Northwest Jefferson County chambers of commerce, on July 29 celebrated the renovations with a ribbon cutting and open house at the pantry, 3295 Ottomeyer Road.
With the help of a $250,000 grant from the Jefferson Foundation, Feed My People repurposed small, underutilized offices in the back of the building into a functioning warehouse, renovated a break room for volunteers and built a seasonal storage room addition at the rear of the building. The receiving area for food, supplies and thrifted goods was also repaved.
Feed My People Executive Director Stephanie Berberich thanked the Jefferson Foundation for making the improvements possible. She said the project has been three years in the making.
Between the pantry in High Ridge and Feed My People’s second location in Lemay, the nonprofit provides food for 1,700 people annually, Berberich said.
“We couldn’t do it without all our partners,” she said.
The Jefferson Foundation was formed in 2013 following the sale of the Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Crystal City. The foundation provides support for charitable and educational activities in the county, according to its website.
Bob Zaruba of south St. Louis County is the Feed My People board president. He’s been volunteering with the nonprofit since 2010.
“This place has just flourished, and the main reason why is Stephanie,” Zaruba said. “We’ve been able to get grants. We renovated the Lemay location; we renovated here. I was just talking to some of the volunteers, and they say they couldn’t be happier because (the renovations) make it easier for them to serve people. I couldn’t be happier with this place.”
Site manager Mary Hettenhausen said the renovations to the existing building make the space more functional for volunteers. Feed My People purchased the building in the late 1990s from a funeral home, which did not include warehouse space.
“The back of the building has been greatly transformed and is extremely functional,” Hettenhausen said. “The only other option we had was to relocate. We didn’t want to do that. (The new warehouse) used to be a couple of little cubby rooms and a small break room over there, where we sat on top of each other. We took out the walls and created an open area. which now works much better.”
The warehouse, which stores shelf-stable food items and dry paper goods for the food pantry, allows staff to organize, find and select products for clients more easily.
“We’re able to identify what we’ve got, where we’ve got it, and the dates we’ve received it in, so we can work in compliance with first in and first out, which is not always the easiest thing in the world to do,” Hettenhausen said.
Many high school students helped in the renovations, Hettenhausen said, by putting shelves together or reorganizing goods. She specifically thanked the students at St. John Vianney, Christian Brothers College, Cor Jesu Academy and Assumption for their hard work.
Hettenhausen said the new storeroom, which is accessed by staff only on the backside of the building, is useful by taking a majority of the seasonal items out of the thrift store’s storage area. She said volunteers are already filling the room with Christmas, Halloween and Easter decorations, and will begin to stockpile school supplies there as well.
“Now we’ve got somewhere that we can store them without stacking up to the ceiling, so this is a fantastic opportunity to get everything stored in an appropriate, helpful manner,” Hettenhausen said.
How to receive help
Feed My People’s food pantry in High Ridge is open from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday; and is closed on Sunday. The pantry is also open on select Mondays, and those interested should call at 636-677-9885 to verify the pantry is open.
The thrift store is open from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and is closed on Sunday.
Carrie LaChance, director of operations, said Feed My People serves people living in 11 zip codes, six in South St. Louis County and five in Jefferson County. The High Ridge location only services Jefferson County residents, she said.
“You need to live in our service area, that’s pretty much our only qualification,” LaChance said. “We do not require income verification. If somebody comes to us and they need food, they will get food. That’s the bottom line.”