The Feeding Missouri Board of Directors has named Heather Hargrove the new executive director for the organization. Feeding Missouri is a coalition of the six Missouri Food Banks working to provide hunger relief to every county (and St. Louis City) in the state.
Hargrove joins Feeding Missouri from Liberty Family Medicine, where she has served as business development manager and helped connect local business with direct primary care opportunities since 2020, according to a press release from Feeding Missouri. Prior to her work at Liberty Family Medicine, Hargrove worked in the hospitality industry for 25 years.
“We are so excited to welcome Heather Hargrove as the new executive director for Feeding Missouri,” said Feeding Missouri Board President and President and CEO of St. Louis Area Food Bank Meredith Knopp. “Having someone of Heather’s strategic leadership in this important role will significantly benefit food security across our state. I look forward to working with her to find new and innovative ways to help our organizations leverage resources and opportunities when the interests of our regions overlap.”
In her new role, Hargrove will work closely with the CEOs of the six Missouri food banks to spearhead statewide advocacy and service efforts that provide a broad foundation on which Missouri food banks can build regional efforts.
“Collaborating with Feeding Missouri allows the state’s food banks to leverage more resources than we would have access to individually,” said Joey Keys, chief executive officer of Southeast Missouri Food Bank. “I look forward to working with Heather Hargrove as we continue to serve our neighbors facing food insecurity in southeast Missouri and across the state.”
Feeding Missouri collectively distributes 120 million pounds of food in our state each year.
Hargrove will begin her tenure as executive director of Feeding Missouri on Oct. 17.
Feeding Missouri is the largest charitable response to hunger in the state.