North Carolina Community-Based Organizations Receive $75,000 in Grants from UnitedHealthcare to Improve Access to Healthy, Af...
August 23 2016 - 4:36PM
Business Wire
- Grants focus on training, education
and increasing access to healthy food to help North Carolinians
live healthier lives
- North Carolina ranks 43rd in the
nation for senior hunger and has a higher prevalence of food
insecurity than the national average
UnitedHealthcare has donated $75,000 to three organizations in
North Carolina to help improve access to healthy, affordable food
throughout the state.
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Photo 1: Anita Bachmann, Vice President
of UnitedHealthcare and Senator Terry Van Duyn and Representative
John Ager follow Hannah Randall CEO MANNA FoodBank CEO as she leads
volunteers into a MANNA Express truck that will be filled will
bring fresh, perishable foods. MANNA FoodBank is receiving a
$25,000 grant from UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North
Carolina to expand its MANNA Express program, an innovative
"just-in-time" distribution system that utilizes volunteer drivers
to bring fresh, perishable foods like produce, dairy and
fresh/frozen meats to hunger relief agencies in 16 counties of
Western North Carolina. (Photo credit: Susannah Kay)
Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC in Winston-Salem, MANNA
FoodBank in Asheville and OIC Family Medical Center in Rocky Mount
will each receive a $25,000 grant to implement innovative and
timely programs to address food insecurity in the communities they
serve.
The grants are part of UnitedHealthcare’s ongoing effort to
identify and support organizations in North Carolina that help
seniors, individuals with disabilities and disadvantaged people
live healthier lives.
“These organizations are implementing important programs in
North Carolina that are making a difference in the lives of many
individuals and families who need a helping hand,” said Anita
Bachmann, vice president of UnitedHealthcare. “Through their work
in the community and UnitedHealthcare’s support we are working
together to help people live healthier lives through education,
training and outreach programs.”
Food insecurity is a reality for many North Carolinians,
particularly among children, seniors and individuals with
disabilities. According to America’s Health Rankings®, North
Carolina ranks 43rd out of 50 states for senior hunger. The state
faces a higher prevalence of food insecurity than the national
average, with several cities ranking among the highest in the
country, including Greensboro, High Point, Asheville and
Winston-Salem. There are 349 food deserts in 80 counties
statewide.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC will use the
$25,000 grant to implement a program to provide customized, healthy
meal boxes and nutrition education/budgeting classes to patients
identified as food insecure by Wake Forest Baptist Health-Downtown
Health Plaza in Winston-Salem and Ashe Memorial Hospital in
Jefferson. The health centers will screen more than 11,000 people
for food insecurity, and the food bank will provide up to 1,700
patients with a customized, healthy meal box and a referral for
continued food assistance, nutrition education and smart-shopping
classes. In Jefferson, Ashe County Sharing Center will serve as a
partner in the program.
“UnitedHealthcare’s support is so important as we work to
provide increased access to healthy food for community members in
need,” said Clyde Fitzgerald, executive director, Second Harvest
Food Bank. “This grant increases service to individuals with
specific health needs who are struggling to afford sufficient,
healthy food to maintain and improve their health.”
The $25,000 grant for MANNA FoodBank will be used to
expand its successful MANNA Express program. MANNA Express is an
innovative "just-in-time" distribution system that uses volunteer
drivers to bring fresh, perishable foods like produce, dairy and
fresh/frozen meats to hunger relief agencies in 16 Western North
Carolina counties. The goal of MANNA Express is to increase service
to reach up to 180 people per week, distribute 2,500 pounds of
nutritious food per week and improve food choices for clients.
“We are grateful for UnitedHealthcare’s support of our MANNA
Express program,” said Hannah Randall, CEO, MANNA Food Bank. “We
serve some very remote areas of our state and have seen a growth in
demand from local agencies for more fresh fruits and vegetables.
This grant will go a long way in supporting our efforts to deliver
fresh and perishable items to people in need while promoting
healthier diets.”
OIC Family Medical Center of Rocky Mount will use its
$25,000 grant to provide more than 150 low-income residents in Nash
and Edgecombe counties who have diabetes and/or another chronic
disease with weekly nutrition education classes, fresh produce to
take home, and intensive case management services for clients who
have diabetes. The program aims to improve diabetes self-management
and increase patients’ knowledge about healthy eating and
nutrition.
“For patients with diabetes and other types of chronic disease,
maintaining a healthy diet is critical, but the learning curve can
be very steep, which is why this grant from UnitedHealthcare is so
important,” said Reuben Blackwell, president and CEO of OIC.
“Reaching these individuals and providing nutrition education
classes and other programs will help people in these
communities.”
The $75,000 in grants were announced at the Second Harvest Food
Bank Northwest NC and MANNA FoodBank where UnitedHealthcare
employees joined community leaders, food bank executives and local
volunteers in organizing food distribution and loading delivery
trucks to support individuals and families supported through the
programs.
UnitedHealthcare serves more than 1.3 million North Carolinians
enrolled in employer-sponsored, individual and Medicare health
plans with a network of 142 hospitals and more than 28,000
physicians and other care providers statewide.
About
UnitedHealthcareUnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping
people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health
care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and
sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company
offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for
individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and
their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and
contracts directly with more than 1 million physicians and care
professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities
nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and
well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at
www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.
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UnitedHealthcareAlice Ferreira,
203-459-7775aferreira@uhc.com
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