Tara Graves

The mission of Operation Food Search is to nourish and educate our neighbors
in need to heal the hurt of hunger.

What does this mean?

Operation Food Search works tirelessly to fight hunger in more ways than one. While we are a
leader at collecting and distributing food throughout the bi-state region, we go beyond just
supplying agencies with free food. With comprehensive nutrition education programs, and an
innovative weekend backpack program, Operation Food Search fights hunger with knowledge,
empowerment, and hope.

In addition, we have become a leader in ensuring that no person in the bi-state region goes cold
during the winter, or must go without essential personal care items. In partnership with Kurt
and Brenda Warner's First Things First Foundation, Operation Food Search distributes nearly
20,000 winter coats throughout the region to keep St. Louis warm. In the spring, we team up
with the Girl Scouts Council of Eastern Missouri to collect and distribute over one million
personal care items (soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, etc.)
to individuals who would otherwise be unable to afford such basic necessities.

As an organization, Operation Food Search is heavily involved in the community. We regularly

partner with local businesses and organizations of all sizes, and you can always find great
events in metropolitan area that are put on to raise awareness and help our goal of ending
hunger. We love volunteers and we love making friends!

Together, we can impact lives one meal at a time.1

I chose Operation Food Search because I have worked with them before. Poverty is a really important
issue to me, and Operation Food Search works really hard to help people in need—as well as to educate
people to eat healthy, which is a huge problem for the poor.

I know because I grew up in a very low income household. The work Operation Food Search does is dear
to me, and the people who run the events really do care.

1
OFS mission statement and information from http://www.operationfoodsearch.org/learn-more/about-us.php
Tara Graves

Event Goal:
Operation Food Search will leverage the 250th Birthday of St. Louis to raise awareness for the
organization, educate, and raise money to fight hunger.

Overview:
Operation Food Search will hold the ultimate birthday party for families in the St. Louis area. The
event will have all the typical birthday entertainment and attractions, along with a place for people to
get information, donate, and educate about nutrition. Since the location will cost a large part of the
budget, local business will be asked to donate, or vendor their food.

The event will be held on Saturday, June 14th from 11am-3pm. It will be a very family focused
event, with games and entertainment for kids. BBQ plates will be sold, along with water and snow
cones. After lunch, there will be cake and ice cream. There will also games and photo booths.

One of the centerpieces for this event will be the information and the education booth. There will be
information about OFS when people pay to get in, and also close to the education table. Information on
poverty that mentions specific issues of the city will be present as well as information on how to help
the issue, including where and what to donate.

If there is wiggle room in the budget a jump house would also be nice.

There will be a small fee to enter, but children will get in free. When guests pay, they will get a colored
bracelet. There will be bins to donate nonperishable food items.

Location:
The event will occur at Tower Grove Park (4256 Magnolia Ave). Tower Grove is a beautiful green park
that is part of St. Louis’s history, as it was donated to the city in 1868 by Henry Shaw. The park has
enough flat green space and flat and smooth trails that are disability appropriate.

Location Costs:

• Insurance- Insurance for the event which names the park must be submitted before the event
can be properly booked,
• Security- An event of over 200 people must include paid security officers, and is the
responsibility of the event holder. Additional officers may be required based on the nature of
the event, as determined by the park. Each officer costs 90 dollars.
Tara Graves

• Restrooms- Adequate portable restrooms must be provided, and is the responsibility of the
event holder. Events with over 200 people will need to have additional restrooms.
• Tents- It is important this event has tents to keep food out of the sun, and to keep people cool.
Tents require permits through the park.
• Trash- Adequate trash receptacles must be provided and in an event with over 200 people
additional trash removal must be considered with the park. It is the responsibly of the event
holder to work with the park to secure trash removal means.

Parking:

Neither parking nor driving on the grass at anytime is permitted. Park entrances and roads may not be
blocked or barricaded at any time.

Signage Tape, tacks and staples are not permitted to hang signs however; signs may be hung with string
the day of the event. Spray chalk/paint is not allowed to mark courses/routes however sidewalk chalk
and/or cones or flags are permitted for such designations.2

Food and Beverage:

You can’t have a birthday without cake and ice-cream. There will also be BBQ for lunch, along with
beverages and snow cones and possible other vendors.

Cake: OFS is already partnering with Schnucks for their anniversary event, so it wouldn’t be a huge
stretch to get them to donate some cakes and then they can cross-promote their anniversary events.

Ice cream- Reach out to local business Serendipity to see if they would donate ice cream for the event.
Another option is Fro Yo, which is a local frozen yogurt company. Frozen Yogurt is a healthier option,
and they may like the promotion.

Beverage: Since it will be hot, providing water will be necessary. We can buy some bottled water and sell
it, and also get a snow cone and lemonade vendor.

BBQ: We can get hot dogs and hamburgers, potato salad, or other BBQ foods and sell them to make up
some of the costs.

2
Park information from http://www.towergrovepark.org/index.php/activities-a-recreation/special-event-
guidelines.html
Tara Graves

Entertainment:
We would like to have a few clowns to magic tricks, face paint, and balloons. It would cut costs if we got
volunteers to dress up as clowns and do these things rather than paying someone. The balloons and face
paint could be sold for a small price. There will also be games for kids of all ages. A group of volunteers
will be designated to design and assist in the games.

There will be a table to set up to teach kids and parents about eating healthy.

Volunteers
Volunteer promotions are always important, since we will rely on volunteers for the set up, food prep,
service, and entertainment. To let volunteers know what is going on we will send an email to people in
the email list and then call those who have shown an interest in helping as the event gets closer.
Volunteers will be given free food .

Advertising
Newsletters will be sent out about the event to everyone on Operation Food Search’s email lists.
Operation Food Search’s social media will be used, as well as the social media of the businesses that we
partner with. Press kits will also need to be created to send to local news organizations, as they often
cover local events.

Press Kits need to be sent to Fox 2, KPR11, KSDK, KDHX, River Front Times, STL Today, and PBS.

An event should be made on facebook, and a post should be made about it every week up until the two
weeks before, and then there should be a post made every other day.

The day of the event there will be signage around the park to let people know exactly where the
event is. The park does not allow tacks or steaks so signage will have to be either pop-up or hung with
string.
Tara Graves

Timeline
• April – Book location, get insurance and permits for tents by April 30th.
• May- Send emails out to volunteers. Reach out to Schnucks, Serendipity, (Fro Yo, just in case),
and local entertainers to see if they will donate. Contact vendors and get vendor permits. Also
give out Press Kits. Start on social media.
• June- Make sure location is completely secure by June 1st. Make sure all volunteers are
contacted, and know what they are doing.

Run Of Show
8 AM- Arrival. Set up tents and tables and put out signage. Start blowing up jump house.

9 AM: Start cooking food, set up game and educational areas, vendor set up. Set up food bins.

10 AM: Final vendor set up (Ice cream and cake) Entertainer arrival. Get cash box at entrance and food
station.

11 AM: People should start to arrive, make sure everything is ready.

11:30 AM: BBQ begin to serve, games begin, clowns should be out and active

12 PM: Education table should start their programs, get cake and ice cream out and begin to serve

2 PM: Stop cooking BBQ

2:30 PM: Close down bounce house and let the air out.

3 PM: Close down food stations. Stop games, begin break down of tents and tables.

4 PM: Clean up and finish break down

5 PM: Park should be cleared by 5.

Tara Graves

What If:

Light Rain: There will be enough tents that, in the case of a light to mild rain the food will be covered
and people can stand under the tents and the pavilions in the park. The food donation bins can be
covered until the rain stops. If the bounce house gets too wet, it may need to close until dried.

Heavy Rain/Storm: If the weather predicts a heavy rain or storm, the event can be rescheduled to the
next available weekend. Local news and radio will most likely run the change of date since they run
canceled events in bad weather anyway. If rain happens unexpectedly that is heavy enough to stop the
event or in case of lighting the bounce house needs to be cleared immediately and the event
coordinator can call the event as they see fit. It may be a loss of money, but safety needs to be a number
one concern.

Success:
The goals of this event are to educate, raise awareness, and raise money/food. If the event sells enough
food and gets enough attendance to cover costs and make a profit it will be a success. The event will
also be a success if we get 1,000 in non-perishable food items, and if the publicity for the event drives
people to learn more about the organization and the issue of poverty in St. Louis.
Tara Graves

Operation Food Search Ultimate St. Louis

Birthday Party