Despite difficult economic conditions and funding cuts to food aid, local nonprofit AGAPE is gearing up for its busiest time of the year, even as it sees a greater need than ever before for its mission of fighting hunger and homelessness in Warren County.

AGAPE feeds nearly 2,000 people per month, according to Executive Director Michelle Bernth. “That’s a humongous amount of people, and it takes a very large amount of food,” she said.

The food pantry distributes 40 to 50 pallets, or between 35,000 and 50,000 pounds of food, per month. “At any given time we have probably 25 pallets of food sitting out there,” Bernth said of AGAPE’s facility on Legion Trail Drive, adding that each pallet weighs 800 to 1,000 pounds.

While that much food may be “hard to conceptualize, a little bit,” she said, it is still not enough to meet growing demand. In the past six months, the nonprofit has seen a 33 percent increase in the number of clients it serves, Bernth said.

AGAPE’s food pantry is a client-choice facility, meaning those who qualify for food assistance through the nonprofit can come in and pick out their own items, similar to shopping at a grocery store. In recent months, however, shelves have been sparsely stocked.

The growing demand “is a clear reflection of the economic times in which we are existing,” Bernth said. 

“The job market is down, prices for everything are up, middle class families are feeling stretched, so you can imagine what it feels like for people who are living sort of paycheck to paycheck right on the line. Our economic environment has been enough to tip a lot of those people over into needing assistance who didn’t necessarily need it before.”

At the same time, she said, federal food assistance, both to food pantries through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and to individuals and families through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), “has been cut dramatically” following passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. In Missouri, Bernth added, SNAP was cut even further.

“That change went into effect Oct. 1, so it is even harder now for families in Missouri specifically to access SNAP benefits,” she said. 

Besides the USDA, meanwhile, donations from other sources are also down. “So families who were able to purchase extra food when they went to the grocery store to donate to the food pantry suddenly don’t have as much discretionary income,” Bernth said, “and so we’re seeing a reduction in donations from community members as well as from the government.”

Despite the hurdles to overcome, however, the nonprofit is pushing forward with its annual schedule of special holiday distributions. To ensure these are successful, it is seeking financial contributions as well as donations of food and toys.

Fundraising is a year-round, never-ending effort for AGAPE, which includes a holiday letter campaign, as well as various events. Following the success of its “Found” pop-up sale in September, featuring select items from AGAPE’s thrift store, Bernth said the nonprofit will host a similar “Christmas pop-up sip and shop,” called “Merry,” on Nov. 21 from 3 to 7 p.m. at the KO Commons event space.

“We’ll have Christmas cocktails and mocktails for sale, and then we’ll have Christmas decor items,” Bernth said, as well as a section for people shopping for gifts. “Everybody can dress up, whether that is in your festive attire or your ugly Christmas sweater, whatever you’ve got, bring it on and we’ll have some fun themed drinks and cute stuff to buy.”

The “Merry” pop-up event will be followed by AGAPE’s first major holiday distribution of the season, which takes place the day before Thanksgiving at the Warren County Fairgrounds and is a partnership with the Knights of Columbus.

Qualifying families will receive a whole turkey, a 5-pound bag of potatoes, multiple sides, rolls, butter, a pie and a coupon for milk, Bernth said, adding that last year, 550 families received a Thanksgiving meal through this distribution to cook in their own homes.

“And there’s nothing wrong with community meals, that’s a great opportunity for people to connect,” she said. “But one of the things that’s really important to us here when we look at our programming is how to offer the highest level of dignity and autonomy for the families that we serve, and a lot of families want to have Thanksgiving in their own home.”

Looking forward beyond Thanksgiving, AGAPE also has two major Christmas campaigns. Its “Share A Christmas” program provides toys and Christmas gifts to families in need, serving nearly 1,000 children annually.

Share A Christmas works similarly to the client-choice food pantry. AGAPE’s lobby will be set up like a Christmas store, and parents will be able to come in and select their own gifts for their kids. This differs from adopt-a-family programs, Bernth said, where parents are provided with wrapped gifts to open on Christmas, without knowing what’s inside or whether it’s something their child will like.

“Again, it just goes back to autonomy, right, and giving people the ability to choose what works best for their family,” she said. “We don’t know people’s families as well as they do and it is not our job to tell people what choices to make.”

AGAPE has online wish lists with Amazon, Target and Walmart. “So people can go directly to any of those retailers online, purchase from the wish list, those items come directly to us,” Bernth said. “So with 30 seconds on your phone, you can buy a couple of gifts, and no muss, no fuss, you don’t even have to think about it and they come right here.”

Financial contributions to Share A Christmas are also always welcome, she added.

“We use donations for the Christmas program to help fill in the gaps of things that we don’t have,” Bernth said. “In addition to the gifts, every child enrolled in the program receives a book and every family receives a board game or some kind of family activity kit. And then we also offer stocking stuffers, as well as wrapping paper and tape for the families. So they really get everything that they need for Christmas through this program.”

In addition to Share A Christmas, AGAPE also runs the Salvation Army’s bell-ringing campaign in Warren County.

“Where the Salvation Army does not have physical presence, they contract with an agency that does similar work, so in Warren County that’s us,” Bernth said.

That means AGAPE is responsible for finding bell-ringing volunteers, but also that it keeps 85 percent of the money collected.

“And then of that 85 percent, 100 percent goes to client aid. We don’t keep any of that particular pot of money for overhead. So everything that comes in there goes directly to helping local families,” Bernth said.

Bell ringers will be at Walmart, Schnucks and Walgreens in Warrenton from Black Friday through Christmas Eve. AGAPE continues to look for additional community partners for its bell-ringing, especially a location in Wright City, as it doesn’t currently have one.

“The trick with the bell-ringing campaign is that it’s a real numbers game, so the more volunteers you have, the more shifts you have filled, the more money comes in,” Bernth said. “When there’s someone standing at the kettle, money comes in. When there’s not, it doesn’t. It’s that simple.”

While there are other holiday food giveaways and Christmas programs that connect families in need with toys for their children, AGAPE’s are by far the largest such efforts in Warren County, Bernth said. Besides individual donations and financial contributions, the nonprofit encourages organizations such as churches and businesses to host food and toy drives to support their mission. They can use all the help they can get, Bernth said.

“Everyone on my staff will work 60 hours a week between now and Christmas nonstop,” she said. “It takes that much effort to make all of this happen. We are not a big team, and so everybody here works really, really hard to make these things happen.”

To find out more about AGAPE, including volunteer and donation opportunities, visit www.agapemo.org.