September is Hunger Action Month – a time for communities and companies to partner together in the fight against hunger. This year Delta Dental and Farm Bureau Health Plans have joined forces to take action and end hunger in our community one helping at a time.
DELTA DENTAL TAKES AIM AT CHILD HUNGER AND HEALTH
When Omari, Tatiyanna and Brylea opened their BackPacks, tucked in with the nutritious food is also a toothbrush courtesy of Delta Dental. The company has been donating toothbrushes to be distributed through our BackPacks program, which provides easy-to-prepare food for more than 6,000 at-risk children on weekends, since 2013.
Currently, Delta Dental provides more than 30,000 toothbrushes a year to children in need across Tennessee.
“The students were so happy to get these as some of them didn’t have one,” said a school counselor in Sumner County. “One of our children went straight to the bathroom, used his, came back and was smiling at me. I asked, ‘What’s going on buddy?’ and he said, ‘My teeth feel brand new.’”
We are thankful for Delta Dental’s continued commitment to fighting childhood hunger and improving children’s health from the inside out!
FARM BUREAU HEALTH PLANS PROVIDE MORE THAT 230K MEALS TO FAMILIES IN NEED
As one of our hunger-fighting partners, Farm Bureau Health Plans has already provided 236,000 meals for our neighbors in need. This Hunger Action Month, they’ll continue their fight by hosting a Mobile Pantry in mid–September.
Our Mobile Pantries are large-scale one-day distributions set up similar to a farmers’ market. A typical mobile pantry provides one to two weeks of groceries to approximately 250 families, distributing more than 20,000 pounds. Farm Bureau Health Plan’s support enables Second Harvest to provide food assistance to individuals struggling with hunger in our rural communities.
Individuals like Linda Arnold, a Mobile Pantry client. She and her family were doing well, until her husband lost his job. Her income barely covered the bills let alone groceries
“Thank you very much for all the work that you do. You know, you help not only me, but everyone else in the community,” said Linda. “I see a lot of people that it’s helping. Without this, it would be hard on a lot of people.”
Not only do Farm Bureau Health Plans employees donate their time and energy to run these Mobile Pantries, but they also come to our warehouse to sort items from our grocery rescue program – volunteering more than 300 hours to help those in need in Middle and Western Tennessee.
Partners like Farm Bureau Health Plans ensure that we can fulfill our mission to fight hunger in our community, and we are grateful to have their support this September!
