Grant to enable nonprofit organizations in the
Food Is Medicine Coalition to expand services for
medically-tailored meals for individuals with chronic medical
conditions.
DENVER, Oct. 10,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The DaVita Giving Foundation, a
private charitable organization created by DaVita Inc., today
announced a $1.4 million
grant to the Food Is Medicine Coalition (FIMC), a
national association of 25 nonprofit organizations across the
country focused on addressing the dual crises of illness and
hunger.
Food insecurity affects 10% of the country—and nearly one third
of low-income families.1 The DaVita Giving
Foundation shares the coalition's goal to help promote better
health outcomes by making food and nutrition central to health
care. The "food is medicine" concept generally refers to
prioritizing food and diet in an individual's health plan, with the
goal of either preventing, reducing symptoms of, or reversing a
disease state.
"DaVita has long been a community-driven organization committed
to supporting causes that uplift those we serve," says Javier Rodriguez, CEO for DaVita. "This
investment aligns with DaVita's strategy to significantly improve
individual and community health for those with kidney disease. We
recognize the critical health impact food insecurity can have on
kidney health and are thrilled to support the FIMC to provide
medically tailored nutrition to individuals in need."
This grant will help FIMC provide more than 100,000
medically-tailored meals to people with food insecurity and medical
nutrition needs, including individuals living with end stage kidney
disease, through four FIMC nonprofit members in the following
markets:
- Sacramento, Calif., through
Project Open Hand
- Los Angeles, through Project
Angel Food
- Minneapolis, through Open Arms
Minnesota
- Orlando, Fla., through Second
Harvest Food Bank of Central
Florida
"At FIMC, we believe that food is medicine and that nutrition is
integral to disease management," says Karen
Pearl, Chair of the Food is Medicine Coalition and President
& CEO of God's Love We Deliver. "With the support of the DaVita
Giving Foundation, FIMC is able to further its mission to produce
better health outcomes, lower the cost of care and improve patient
satisfaction through diet and nutrition."
In selecting grant recipients, the DaVita Giving Foundation
seeks to address pressing social determinants of health facing
kidney patients, including access to transplantation resources,
provision of transportation services and alleviation of food
insecurity.
In addition to its grant program, the DaVita Giving Foundation
funds DaVita's Dollars for Doers program. Through Dollars for
Doers, DaVita teammates (employees) receive a $15 credit per volunteer hour logged to donate to
a nonprofit of their choice, up to $500 per year. Teammates may also choose to
donate their own money to a nonprofit through the company's
platform and have their donations matched, up to $500 each year.
In 2021, DaVita identified healthy communities as a key aspect
of its ESG initiative. With the establishment of the DaVita Giving
Foundation, the kidney care provider aims to further identify
giving opportunities that create scalable impact towards these
goals while enhancing its community stewardship in areas it
serves.
To learn more about DaVita's giving and community partnerships,
visit DaVita.com/About.
About DaVita Inc.
DaVita (NYSE: DVA) is a health care provider focused on
transforming care delivery to improve quality of life for patients
globally. The company is one of the largest providers of kidney
care services in the U.S. and has been a leader in clinical quality
and innovation for more than 20 years. DaVita cares for patients at
every stage and setting along their kidney health journey—from
slowing the progression of kidney disease to helping to support
transplantation, from acute hospital care to dialysis at home. As
of June 30, 2022, DaVita served 198,000 patients at 2,808
outpatient dialysis centers in the United States. The
company also operated 349 outpatient dialysis centers in 11 other
countries worldwide. DaVita has reduced hospitalizations, improved
mortality, and worked collaboratively to propel the kidney care
industry to adopt an equitable and high-quality standard of care
for all patients, everywhere.
To learn more, visit DaVita.com/About.
About the Food Is Medicine
Coalition
The Food Is Medicine Coalition (FIMC) is a coalition of
nonprofit medically tailored meal providers who serve people in
communities across the country who are too sick to shop or cook for
themselves. Medically tailored meals (MTMs) are delivered to
individuals living with severe illness through a referral from a
medical professional or healthcare plan. Meal plans are tailored to
the medical needs of the recipient by a Registered Dietitian
Nutritionist (RDN), and are designed to improve health outcomes,
lower cost of care and increase patient satisfaction. Because of
their complicated medical conditions, most of our clients are
unable to eat the food offered by many other home-delivered meal
providers. MTMs are delivered to an individual's home. In the last
year, collectively, FIMC MTM providers served over 11 million meals
to over 48,000 people across multiple states and the District
of Columbia. Clients living with a
primary diagnosis of HIV, cancer or diabetes made up the majority
of those that received meals from FIMC agencies in the last year,
however, the plurality of clients live with multiple diagnoses at
once. For more information, visit www.fimcoalition.org.
Media Contact:
Megan
Anthony
Megan.Anthony@Davita.com
720-631-2170
1 Based on 2021 data. U.S. Department of Agriculture
Economic Research Service; September 13,
2022
https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/food-security-and-nutrition-assistance/#:~:text=The%20prevalence%20of%20food%20insecurity,had%20very%20low%20food%20security.
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SOURCE DaVita Inc.