HAMPTON, Va — There's a new way to help address food insecurity on the peninsula.
Swiping on the screen and entering a code at a food locker outside Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton will get you access to bags of free and healthy food inside the locker. It's a first for the hospital.
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The hospital partnered with the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank to create the locker.
“We know that without consistent access to nutritious food, health outcomes worsen," said Sentara CarePlex Patient Care Services Director Essence Riddick.
The locker has been in the works for years and is the result of a community health needs assessment survey. Hospital patients determined to be in need and foodbank clients can use the locker.
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“This new innovative initiative, when Sentara stepped forward, was the culmination of a dream for us at the food bank because we have really been looking to invest in this type of food access, and we just needed a partner," Virginia Peninsula Foodbank Chief Development Officer Craig Gallaer said.
According to the foodbank, one in nine people, or 61,000, on the peninsula are chronically experiencing a lack of healthy food each day. The foodbank also says one in five kids, or nearly 24,000, are struggling to learn because they’re hungry.
"Currently, we know that on the peninsula, the food insecurity rate has gone up this year. So the need is still rising," said Gallaer.
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The bags of food in the locker have a variety of non-perishable items. The foodbank anticipates restocking the locker multiple times a week.
“Sentara supports the food bank’s initiative, and this program supports Sentara’s mission of ‘we improve health every day,'" Riddick explained. "The locker represents our commitment to caring for the whole person, and supporting our community behind the walls of the hospital."
