Since
1988, Food Outreach of St. Louis has been the nutritional lifeline
for thousands of persons in need in Missouri
“font-family: Verdana;”>and “font-family: Verdana;”>who are also undergoing treatment for HIV/AIDS. And since 2006, it also provides home-cooked, chef prepared meals as well as canned and fresh groceries for persons undergoing cancer treatment.
Eddie Webb
of St. Louis first heard
of the organization in 1991, because some of his friends were
clients at Food Outreach.
“font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana;”>He became a client himself after being diagnosed with HIV in 1999.
“I don’t
know what the circumstances were, but I got way, way down
economically with me not working,” Webb said. “It’s pure protein,
it’s tasty and then it’s handy. The entrees that they cook, they
freeze them, so I can take them to work if I want to.”
Webb is
healthy and working a good job these days and doesn’t go as often
as he used to.
“I go
there every once and a while and get some of the good food,” he
said. Besides vegetables, Webb’s favorite entree is pork
tenderloin. He and other clients select from a menu, which changes
every two weeks to offer a variety of food options. Clients receive
enough food for two meals each day for two weeks – four weeks for
people who live farther away.
On
Mondays, an onsite weekly hot lunch is served to clients by
volunteers to provide opportunities for social interaction and
additional emotional support.
Persons
with serious illnesses can become too weak to cook for themselves
or to hold down a job and make ends meet and keep a roof over their
heads – let alone have regular healthy meals.
Food
Outreach is on track to remove that burden in record numbers this
year by providing a half million meals at no charge to its clients
– at a time when its own resources are not promised.
“Going
into our 24th
year, we are finding a huge
increase in demand and contributions haven’t kept up quite with
that demand,” said Greg Lukeman, executive director at Food
Outreach. “So far this year, we’ve grown by 14 percent, which
translates to over 1,800 clients that are now depending on us for
their principle supply of food.”
Lukeman
emphasizes their work is unlike a typical food pantry.
“It’s
nutritious meals, it’s foods that make medicines work as they
should and also help clients tolerate the various treatments that
their on,” Lukeman explained.
Each
person undergoes a comprehensive nutrition assessment from a
registered dietician, from which recommendations are made on which
food items may work best for the client in their stage of
treatment.
“It would
screen for things like nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea,
various barriers to oral intake,” said Josh Dale, R.D., L.D.,
registered dietician. “Things like mouth sores, painful dentition
(teeth) – oral health is a huge issue with much of our
population.”
For
HIV/AIDS patients, CD4 counts and viral load are the two things
they watch. CD4 cells are a type of white blood cell made in the
spleen, lymph nodes and thymus gland that fight infection. Viral
load refers to the amount of virus in the bloodstream.
“Anytime I
see somebody with a CD4 below 200, that’s going to cue me that we
want to enforce food safety practices,” Dale said. “A low CD4 would
indicate compromised immune systems.”
By
improving their nutritional status, Food Outreach says clients are
often able to maintain their strength, better adhere to their
medication regimens to optimize treatment outcomes.
They also
recommend foods that are more beneficial for persons with other
chronic conditions, like diabetes, high cholesterol, liver and
heart disease. Individual nutrition counseling and group nutrition
education and cooking classes are offered as well.
And
without the worry about food, clients can use their already limited
resources toward other household expenses.
Clients
are qualified for services at Food Outreach following verification
of a diagnosis of their condition, and by meeting income
requirements, living at or below 300 percent of the Federal Poverty
Level. Currently, that’s $32,670 for a single person; $67,050 for a
family of four.
Kathy
Spencer, volunteer coordinator and client services manager at Food
Outreach, welcomes and follows up with each client to make sure
they are meeting their needs.
“Just
checking in on someone if they haven’t been in for a while as to
why not,” Spencer said. “Sometimes that’s because they went back to
work and everything’s fine; sometimes it’s because they’ve become
too ill to come in and we get them set up for home
delivery.”
“font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana;”> “The peace of mind of having good nutrition, no matter what your circumstance is there. It’s not just a meal – it’s not just food – it’s actually piece of mind,” Webb said. “If you’re stressed at all, you can ruin your health, so there’s the peace of mind knowing that you have food – you have somewhere to go.”
“font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana;”> “font-family: Verdana;”>If you’d like to donate, volunteer or find out more about Food Outreach, call 314-652-FOOD (3663) x. 111 or visit online at http://www.foodoutreach.org.
