ST. LOUIS — With record-breaking food prices, help is on the way in the St. Louis area. Families can find help getting the essentials they desperately need.
Thursday is the first day of the St. Louis Area Foodbank’s Summer Family Feeding Program.
Families can go to multiple locations in the Metro East and in St. Louis to get much-needed groceries.
At the store, shoppers are spending more but leaving with less because of the rising prices, and that’s really taking a toll on families.
Thursday morning at 9 a.m., the first Summer Family Feeding Program event kicks off in the metro east at Cahokia High School.
Thursday afternoon, another program food giveaway event is scheduled for 1 p.m. in St. Louis Families can go to Mullanphy-Botanical Garden Elementary School at 4221 Shaw Ave to pick up food items.
The St. Louis Area Foodbank is also hosting a mobile food distribution event on Thursday. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., families can get food from Great Things Incorporated at 4675 Page Blvd in St. Louis at their drive-thru event.
The food bank is hosting more mobile food giveaways on Friday.
At 10 a.m., a drive-thru distribution event will be held at Church House Ministries on 6070 Harney Ave. St. Louis, MO.
From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., people in St. Charles will get some assistance. The food bank is holding a can walk-up distribution at 1404 N. Rue St., St. Charles, MO.
These events come as they’re needed most.
The food industry association says 86 percent of shoppers are worried about rising prices and are actively trying to save money.
Fifty-nine percent are looking for deals.
Forty-eight percent of shoppers say they’re changing where or how they buy groceries to combat rising prices.
One of our NBC affiliates spoke with Gina Zakaria, a personal finance expert. She says, “I will buy three or four pounds of onions, come home, chop them all up at once in the food processor, put them in freezer bags and freeze them and then I have onion for a month."
Zakaria adds, “One of the greatest proteins you can get are canned beans, you can get rotisserie chicken, and then just look for frozen veggies. You'll find that they are much less expensive"
Experts also recommend using tech to help save.
Before you shop, check out your local grocery store apps.
Consider shopping online. You can compare sites to find the best price and click the ‘in-store pickup option’ to save gas and time.