She wears tennis shoes, jeans, a sweatshirt and baseball cap. She wears the cherry-red apron of a lead volunteer. Her laugh reveals genuine joy. A joy that is especially noticeable as Joelene Wentz begins her volunteer work bright and early on a Saturday morning at Food Outreach in St. Louis.

Originally, Food Outreach began in 1988 as a group of people who wanted to help friends diagnosed with HIV or AIDS, Wentz said. Food Outreach provides free, nutritious food to low-income men, women and children living with HIV, AIDS or cancer as well as a grocery store food pantry to make grocery shopping easier for patients with these illnesses. Clients also have access to a dietitian from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday to help them make healthy choices. Food Outreach  also prepares a three-course lunch every Monday at 12 p.m. served on white tables restaurant-style.

Clients are eligible for Food Outreach with a doctor’s permission if they meet income eligibility guidelines. Volunteers are needed to help cook and pack food, as well as fill client orders at the grocery store and stock shelves.

“We first started out at the Union Avenue Christian Church,” Wentz said. “We packed in the basement, we used their kitchen, we used the elevator and we took the racks up to freezers on the third floor.”

Wentz is one of 15 lead volunteers who make up a mini-management team and rotate leadership each week. Wentz has been a part of Food Outreach since 1991 and calls herself “a regular worker bee.” Lead volunteers meet earlier than other volunteers, conduct orientation in the morning, answer any questions and clean up after volunteer work is over.

“We decided that nutrition is very important for people that are compromised and how it is [difficult for them] to grocery shop and plan meals,” Wentz said. “[Now] it’s evolved and we have around 2,500 clients in St. Louis County and some Illinois counties.”

Food Outreach is now located at 3117 Olive St. near a MetroBus stop for the convenience of its clients. It has a large space with a lobby, a pharmacy for easy pickup of medication, a warehouse full of food, a food pantry, industrial kitchens with industrial freezers, a volunteer workspace and management offices. Food Outreach has a large annual fundraiser in April during which they raise most of the money they need to purchase food throughout the year. They also receive private funds, corporate funds and grants. Food Outreach receives cans from canned food drives around  St. Louis as well.

“It is very well organized and a well-run organization,” Wentz said. “We try to keep as many [volunteers] busy as we can because no one likes to volunteer and stand around [and] feel [like they’ve] wasted their time.”

According to Food Outreach, studies have shown that proper nutrition can slow the progression of HIV and AIDS by one-third. According to The National Cancer Institute, “being well nourished during cancer care has been linked to an improved quality of life and a better chance of recovery.”

Food Outreach’s mission statement is “To provide nutritional support and enhance the quality of life of men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS or cancer,” which they are accomplishing by helping more than 2,000 clients.

“I love to help people,” Wentz said. “It’s just very rewarding. Once you start doing this, everybody becomes your family. That’s how the whole thing got started. It was a group of friends helping friends.”

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Mimi Wright