MEDIA ADVISORY
Independence Blue Cross Foundation and Healthy Futures partner SHARE provide Thanksgiving dinner for local families
Philadelphia, PA – November 20, 2015
What:
The Independence Blue Cross Foundation and SHARE, its newest “Eat Right” Healthy Futures partner, will provide more than 60 Thanksgiving dinner packages to local families in north Philadelphia to help them enjoy an affordable, healthy, and delicious Thanksgiving dinner. SHARE provides healthy, affordable foods in low-income Healthy Futures school neighborhoods through farmer’s markets and SHARE below-retail grocery packages. Healthy Futures focuses on three components of healthy living — “Eat Right,” “Get Fit” and “Stay Well” — each brought to life in area schools through partnerships with national and regional leaders with expertise in nutrition, fitness and preventative health care. Launched in August 2013, Healthy Futures now offers programming in 25 regional schools, directly impacting more than 1,000 students and their families.
When:
Friday, November 20, 2 p.m.
Where:
St Martin De Porres Elementary School
2300 W Lehigh Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19132
Who:
Beth Broady, School Outreach Coordinator, SHARE
Maureen Furletti, Independence Blue Cross Foundation
60 families
Key visuals:
SHARE distributing Thanksgiving food packages to families
About the Independence Blue Cross Foundation
The Independence Blue Cross Foundation is a charitable, private foundation, whose mission is leading solutions for a healthier community. The foundation targets the following areas of impact:
- Securing the Blue Safety Net: Supporting private, nonprofit community health center clinics that provide access to quality, affordable healthcare in medically underserved areas.
- Bolstering the Health Care Workforce: Strengthening the nursing, primary care, and allied health workforce through education, career development, and research.
- Addressing Health Priorities: Collaborating with wellness partners to tackle the region’s most pressing health challenges; currently combating the obesity epidemic through the IBC Foundation Healthy Futures Initiative.
- Building Healthy Communities: Partnering with community leaders and programs to address community health and wellness needs.
Learn more by visiting our website: www.ibxfoundation.org. Connect with the Independence Blue Cross Foundation on Twitter at @ibxfdn.
About SHARE
SHARE Food Programs is on the front lines in reducing regional hunger and expanding access to healthy, affordable food. Each month, SHARE helps nearly 600,000 low-income Philadelphia residents, and another 120,000 individuals along the Eastern Seaboard. Last year, SHARE brought over 26 million pounds of emergency food relief to 505 local food cupboards, to reduce growing food poverty. SHARE’s food cupboard partners our region’s most vulnerable low-income citizens: 39% are children and 12% are elderly. In addition to emergency food relief, SHARE improves nutrition and health through these core programs: 1) Monthly “SHARE packages” which help families to stretch limited food resources and promote healthy eating; 2) Nice Roots Farm, which provides fresh, local, affordable produce year-round, and 3) Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which serves low-income seniors with monthly packages of nutritious foods. In addition, SHARE’s vibrant partnerships with other community organizations bring nutrition education and cooking classes to low-income families.
Media contact
Ruth Stoolman
Independence Blue Cross
215-241-4807 (office)
215-280-3335 (cell)
ruth.stoolman@ibx.com