In North St. Louis, Champale Anderson, a mother of six, has spent the past five years turning her home into a warm shelter of hope for children facing hunger.
Every school day, Anderson prepares about 100 snack bags filled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, juice, fruit, cookies, and other treats.
A handwritten sign outside her home reads: “Champ’s Teardrops, free snacks anytime. Donations welcome.”
Her mission is simple: make sure no child in her community goes hungry after school.
A Mission Born From Compassion
Anderson, who also works in home health care, started the initiative after noticing kids in her neighborhood were often hungry when they got home from school. What began as 15 bags quickly multiplied through word of mouth, and now as many as 130 children stop by daily.
“I get off of work to come to work to finish doing this for them,” Anderson once said in an interview with People. “They look forward to it, I can’t disappoint them.”
Over the years, her project, now known as Champ’s Teardrops, has grown with the help of her aunt and sister, who set up tables in other parts of the city.
From Out-of-Pocket to Community Support
For years, Anderson covered the costs herself. But with growing need, she launched a GoFundMe page, which now helps keep the program running.
Donations have allowed her to expand and dream bigger: she hopes to turn her initiative into a mobile food program that can reach even more children across the city.
The impact has been profound. Parents and kids alike often express gratitude, some admitting they wouldn’t have had food otherwise. Anderson recalls one young girl who nervously asked for a second bag because she had nothing to eat at home.
Looking Ahead
For Anderson, feeding children isn’t just charity; it’s a responsibility.
“This is our future, and nobody should go hungry,” she says. “We have enough money in this world to provide this. If they can build new buildings, they can go buy bread and bologna and stuff for certain neighborhoods to help them.”
