The holiday season is here and the Harris County Hospital District Foundation invites you to kick it off with us on GivingTuesday!
In support of GivingTuesday 2021, please help us to raise funds and awareness for the Harris Health System, Food Farmacy Program. Your donation will help expand the Food Farmacy Program to include a kitchen area for cooking demonstrations and an exercise room at Strawberry and Acres Home Ambulatory Centers and LBJ Hospital – making healthcare more widely accessible, especially in areas where there are barriers to these services.
See below to learn more about the Food Farmacy Program
It is our goal to raise in excess of
$10,000.00
HELP US FILL THE GROCERY BAGS!
DONATE BELOW
So, what is a Food Farmacy?
A Food Farmacy helps patients dealing with food insecurity (without means to adequate food sources) and diabetes. Patients are identified by physicians and referred to the program based on their food insecurity needs and a diagnosis of diabetes.
Patients with documented food insecurity and diabetes with elevated A1C levels (three-month hemoglobin measures above 7%) qualify for the program. Each patient receives free food including 30 pounds of fruits and vegetables, and four healthy food items like whole-grain rice, beans or meats every two weeks.
Currently, Harris Health System has 3 Food Farmacy locations at Strawberry and Acres Home Ambulatory Care Centers, and Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) hospital.
About 60% of the 2,700 patients with diabetes in these locations have elevated A1C levels. Patients with A1C levels of 7% or more are at risk for severe nerve damage, kidney failure, loss of vision, as well as life-threatening conditions like stroke and heart disease.
“Harris Health System Food Farmacy is a collaborative program with the Houston Food Bank. “We know that if we give our patients the tools — in this case foods — they need to succeed, they will. We are seeing success and they’re seeing it too. Our hope is that it will show them that they can help in the process of taking care of their health,” Dr. Glorimar Medina, Executive Vice president, Ben Taub Hospital says.
Please help us to help those in our community to once again live a healthier life. Your donation to help expand this much needed program would certainly be appreciated.