Students Focus on Cash as a Way to Help Families

Participants in Our Fresh Rx Program Benefit from New Effort

College students Teddy Vincent and Reilly Ahearn were looking for a way to help. Like so many others who watched the pandemic create hardship for individuals and families, they wanted to apply their energy to make an immediate impact. They knew Operation Food Search provided food to the community, so they set a simple but challenging goal: raise money that could be used for expenses that weren’t covered by existing programs. After meeting with OFS staff to determine the best way to distribute the money, they set out to raise $5,000.

“Over 290,000 people in the St. Louis region are financially burdened,” says Reilly Ahearn. “We set out to help people meet their basic needs in the simplest, most effective way possible.” The result was Students4STL, comprised of a group of 2017 graduates of Ladue Horton Watkins High School: Reilly Ahearn, Will Cytron, Arthur Gibert, Daniel Payne, Allie Schneider, Lindsay Schneider and Teddy Vincent. Through an initial social media fundraising campaign, the group reached their initial $5,000 goal within several months. The money will be used by participants in our Fresh Rx: Nourishing Healthy Starts program, which benefits pregnant women and their families.

“Even modest amounts of money for things like gas to drive to a job interview can make all the difference in empowering people during a difficult period,” says Katie Simpson, OFS Manager of Health Equity Initiatives. “We are grateful that the members of Students4STL understand the challenges that cash assistance can address and that they are committed to helping in this way.”

Students4STL is now being established as a nonprofit, enabling donors to benefit from the tax deduction to a 501(c)3 organization. Keep an eye out for upcoming fundraising events, such as a partnership with Clayton High School soccer teams on Oct. 16. To learn more and donate, please visit www.students4STL.org.