Five years ago, The Fit and Food Connection (FAFC) was born out of a shared passion for health, wellness, and equity.

Co-founders Joy Millner and Gabrielle (Gabi) Cole were hard at work in St. Louis’s underserved communities. Joy’s organization, Living Joyfully, offered free fitness and nutrition classes to local low-income neighborhoods, while Gabi’s – The Food Place – brought healthy food to North St. Louis communities where grocery stores were scarce. In 2015, they joined forces to co-found the FAFC, working with half a dozen families to provide a food access program and free weekly fitness classes.

In the following years, this grassroots program blossomed into a multifaceted wellness education, mentorship, and food pantry program serving 55 households. The FAFC empowers their clients to reach their health goals through a holistic approach that emphasizes healthy eating, physical fitness, and nutrition education. More importantly, all their programs are free.

GROWING FOOD LITERACY

FAFC reaches the community through two main program branches: food access and wellness. Their food access program incorporates food assistance and delivery, as well as an organic garden, while the wellness Program provides group fitness classes, group nutrition seminars, and customized one-on-one programs for their clients.

FAFC’s food assistance delivery program reaches residents in the region who suffer most acutely from food insecurity. Operating out of the Believer’s Temple in Ferguson, MO, a team of dedicated volunteers assembles every Sunday to sort and prepare donated food, which is delivered directly to clients’ homes by volunteer drivers.

“Many [clients] don’t have transportation; they’re on the lowest end of the financial spectrum,” explains Joy. “This includes single mothers, families, people with disabilities, the elderly – people across the board.”

Early on, Joy and Gabi recognized that food literacy was a critical component of healthy eating habits. For someone who is unfamiliar with a wide variety of produce, many greens – for example – might look similar but taste very different. This prompted FAFC to add cooking demonstrations and seminars to their programming.

“We talk about what goes best in salads or in soups. We do a lot of classes on food prepping - how to prepare food for the week, how to cook on a dime,” Joy explains. “We also put a lot of communication into the food deliveries we give out, such as recipes, nutrient information, what to do with the food.”

It was only a matter of time before FAFC and Urban Harvest STL found each other and a beautiful partnership began. Since 2017, Urban Harvest STL has provided a steady supply of seasonal produce for FAFC’s various programs. Beyond adding fresh produce to deliveries for food pantry clients, it’s also used for monthly cooking and nutrition classes and prepared in healthy snacks for well-attended “Health Hours” that combine fitness, stretching, de-stressing, and mindfulness.

COPING WITH COVID

The design of FAFC’s wellness and food delivery programs has made the organization resilient to the upheavals of the Covid-19 pandemic. While many pantries find themselves scrambling to adapt, FAFC adjusted quickly to a no-contact procedure with minimal interruption for clients. Drivers now pick up meal deliveries outside of Believer’s Temple and leave it outside clients’ homes without any direct contact. Fitness and nutrition programming has moved online. Their existing network of volunteer wellness professionals continue to serve clients in virtual support groups and consultations, while local volunteers mentor clients while social distancing.

However, the financial strain of the pandemic has led to a surge in demand for their pantry, increasing their waitlist for food delivery. Their team of five staff and seventy-five volunteers is working hard to meet the rising needs of the community, establishing a food drive and wishlist and requesting monetary donations. As they acquire more food and bring more people off the waitlist, they also need additional volunteer delivery drivers to help distribute meals.

“The unfortunate reality is that a lot of people are out of money and hungry. I think a lot of people are living under a really high level of stress right now,” says Joy. “We’re spending a lot of time on de-stressing, because you have to start somewhere...We’re finding small ways to make our clients feel better and build confidence from within. It is more important now than ever.”

Yet Joy remains optimistic that they’ll weather the pandemic alongside their clients. She is encouraged by the spirit and impact of giving that sustains their mission, “whether it's the clients’ lives we’re changing, or waking up to see these angels – all the people who give back. It’s a beautiful world that I get to see.”

The Fit and Food Connection is a long-time donation partner of Urban Harvest STL. To learn more about them, visit https://fitandfoodconnection.org