Medical City Healthcare’s third “Healthy Food for Healthier Tomorrows” food drive and sculpture contest collected 38,000 pounds of canned food and donated $47,000 to North Texas and Louisiana food banks. $10,000 of the donations came courtesy of the HCA Healthcare Foundation. The contributions to 16 food banks and pantries will provide more than 173,000 meals to hungry families in North Texas and Louisiana.
“Good nutrition is essential to good health,” says Erol Akdamar, FACHE, president of Medical City Healthcare. “Our ‘Healthy Foods for Healthier Tomorrows’ food drive is another important example of how our colleagues care for our community to improve more lives in more ways beyond the hospital walls.”
As the holidays approach, many families this year are struggling to put food on the table with higher prices due to inflationary and global supply chain challenges. One in every five children in North Texas faces food insecurity, according to the North Texas Food Bank.
Hundreds of colleagues donated food or made a financial contribution to help purchase food. Additionally, Medical City Healthcare hospitals in North Texas and HCA Healthcare affiliated hospitals in Louisiana participated in a fun competition to build creative can sculptures from some of the donated food. This year, all of the entries earned cash grants for their food bank beneficiaries funded by Medical City Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundation.
Beneficiaries of food and/or cash grants include the following in North Texas and Louisiana:
- Christian Community Action
- Community Enrichment Center
- Community Food Pantry of McKinney
- Community Storehouse
- Denton Community Food Center
- Food Bank of Central Louisiana
- Frisco Family Services
- Irving Cares
- Minnie’s Food Pantry
- Mission Arlington
- Northshore Food Bank
- North Texas Food Bank
- Parker County Center for Hope
- Second Harvest Food Bank
- Tarrant Area Food Bank
- White Rock Center of Hope
The food drive complements Medical City Healthcare’s award-winning kids teaching kids® Healthy Lifestyles program, which offers children and families nutrition education and resources to improve eating habits.