ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis-based marketing company has reached a record milestone of donating more than 2 million meals across 38 states through its philanthropic mission to combat food insecurity.

What You Need To Know

  • Customers of participating restaurants can snap a photo of their food and upload it to the app or by scanning a QR code. By doing so, GiftAMeal will donate meals to local food banks

  • Operation Food Search receives a donation of approximately $2,000 per month from GiftAMeal. Over the course of the program, she said the food bank has received $150,000

  • To date, 150 restaurants in the St. Louis area participate in GiftAMeal

As a camp counselor in high school, Andrew Glantz saw the impact hunger had on his seven- and eight-year-old campers.

“I had always really wanted to give back,” Glantz said. “Growing up, I would volunteer at different local food banks. I would tutor underprivileged children and volunteer for a number of other causes, too.”

After learning about the “doing well by doing good” business model and pulling from different trends, Glantz founded GiftAMeal in 2015 while attending Washington University.

He walked up and down streets in St. Louis, sometimes through snow, to speak with restaurant owners about his business concept.

In 2017, GiftAMeal donated 30,000 meals locally, Glantz said.

Restaurants partner with GiftAMeal, which pay to be on the platform’s app. Customers of participating restaurants can snap a photo of their food and upload it to the app or by scanning a QR code. By doing so, GiftAMeal will donate meals to local food banks.

By sharing one photo, one meal is donated, however, extra meals are donated when customers post photos on their social media pages, Glantz said. The app is free to use for restaurant patrons.

“The restaurant is getting some promotion out of this from creating a feel-good experience for guests,” he said.

Glantz has been working with Operation Food Search in St. Louis since the launch of his business.

Operation Food Search receives a donation of approximately $2,000 per month from GiftAMeal, according to Kristen Wild, president and CEO. Over the course of the program, she said the food bank has received $150,000.

Since Operation Food Search can leverage every donated dollar, Wild said the $150,000 is worth $1.5 million in food and services for the St. Louis region.

The food bank serves 27 counties in Missouri and Illinois and assists 200,000 people monthly.

Wild said GiftAMeal is positive in every regard.

“It’s providing funding for Operation Food Search to reach more people; it is providing exposure to the problem of food insecurity and the existence of organizations like Operation Food Search who need to help people in our community; (and) it’s great exposure for restaurants,” she said.

Wild mentioned GiftAMeal employees will volunteer at Operation Food Search with Glantz bringing in additional people to help out.

“We rely really heavily on volunteers. Every year, we save over a million dollars’ worth in labor costs because of the volunteer help that we receive from organizations like GiftAMeal,” Wild said.

She said she is proud of Glantz and the growth of GiftAMeal over the years.

To date, 150 restaurants in the St. Louis area take part in GiftAMeal.

Anthonino’s Taverna was approached early on by Glantz and has been a partner for the past nine years. Approximately 6,000 meals have been donated through the program.

“You’re keeping your dollars in St. Louis and they’re going to feed somebody that needs it,” said Anthony Scarato, co-owner of Anthonino’s Taverna.

A total of 293 meals were donated in July.

“It gives the business a good standing in the community,” Scarato said. “We try to give back as much as we can.”

Folks can even participate from their own kitchen. Those who purchase an Anthonino’s frozen pizza and/or toasted ravioli from Schnucks can upload pictures to the app of their food fresh from the oven.

He hopes more people will use GiftAMeal.

“I hope that people continue that vibe because it’s good for the community, it’s good for small businesses.”

In 2021, Glantz said GiftAMeal began expanding outside the St. Louis area with fast-food restaurants that have locations in multiple states. As the business expanded, GiftAMeal has benefitted more than 130 food banks across 38 states.

Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken is entering its third year with GiftAMeal.

With restaurants in 12 states, including the St. Louis area, the fast-food chain is able to give back across its 130 locations, according to Dan Sokolik, vice president of marketing for Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken.

Over the past two years, Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken has donated an upward of 175,000 meals combined across all 130 locations through the GiftAMeal program.

That number includes 20,000 meals generated in the St. Louis area.

“To find a partner like GiftAMeal where we can make an impact equally in our markets but have a single message that we can convey across those markets made a lot of sense to us,” Sokolik said.

Besides supporting local communities, another benefit Sokolik said is seeing social media posts of customers enjoying the food.

“There are a lot of national charities that we could have aligned with, but those monies don’t always flow back where they came,” Sokolik said. “And that was the great thing about GiftAMeal was that we’re able to help locally while still having a brand wide message.”

To spread awareness of the program, Sokolik said information about GiftAMeal is on packaging such as chicken boxes and drink cups, which has increased customer participation.

For more information about GiftAMeal, visit the company’s website.