BELLEVILLE – Community members can learn more about local resources that combat food insecurity.
From 2–4 p.m. on Thursday, June 25, 2026, there will be a panel discussion about food insecurity in St. Clair County, local resources, and how the community can help. This Food Resources Community Meeting will be held at the Regional Office of Education in Belleville, or you can attend via a virtual Zoom link.
“We only know what people tell us,” said Stephanie Herling with Birth to Five Illinois, one of the organizers. “This is a platform for all the local families to come together and share the needs and share their hardships, so that we can learn from them to really come together to better serve and provide a good network and a good safety net for the families with the services that we have.”
Herling noted that rising grocery costs and changes to the SNAP program have led to higher levels of food insecurity in the region. Over 23,000 St. Clair County residents were estimated to experience food insecurity according to 2021 Feeding America data, and that number has likely increased.
During the Food Resources Community Meeting, a panel of experts from Soulcial Kitchen, St. Louis Foodbank, St. Clair County Health Department, United Way 211, and Brightpoint will speak about local resources. Attendees are also encouraged to vocalize their own needs and experiences during the event.
Birth to Five Illinois provides early childhood programs and other resources to families with young children. They host a quarterly community meeting to talk about barriers families might face.
Herling shared that the goal of the Food Resources Community Meeting is to connect people with resources, but also to help these organizations gain a better understanding of what people need.
“We have to look at families as a whole and really make sure that families have the resources and supports that they need to really thrive in the region,” she explained. “We want to make sure that we’re continuously listening to our community and supporting the community’s needs to be really active and making sure that we’re breaking down those barriers to support all of the children’s needs, especially, but also coming together as a community to really be that safety net for families.”
Attendees are also encouraged to think about how they can address food insecurity. Herling and her team believe the community can come together to take care of one another, and they hope the Food Resources Community Meeting encourages people to take steps to help their neighbors.
Herling added that all perspectives are welcome, and she hopes the meeting can be a productive conversation about how St. Clair County residents can address food insecurity in their community.
“Food insecurity is just the tip of the iceberg, right?” she said. “We are actively doing this work amongst many of the social issues and barriers that families are experiencing daily.”
To register for the Food Resources Community Meeting, click here.
