BOARDMAN, Ohio – About a fourth of the children in the Mahoning Valley live with food insecurity. The new Food Farmacy at the Akron Children’s Hospital Boardman campus is aiming to decrease those numbers among its patients.
More than 38,200 children are treated by the Boardman emergency room each year, and Akron Children’s wants to send them home healthier and with nutritious, wholesome food to sustain them and their families for a few days.
Bernett Williams, chief engagement officer of Akron Children’s Hospital, said that in 2022 Feeding America reported food insecurity affected 25,000 children in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties combined.
“These numbers are staggering, but they’re a call to action, a reminder of why addressing food insecurity is a critical public health priority and a focus of our Akron Children’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment,” Williams said.
The program will serve up to 100 patients’ families at or below 200% of the poverty level monthly, she added. When more people become aware, there could be more.
The Food Farmacy officially launched Monday. It’s located inside the main entrance doors of Building A, the Leonard J. Fisher Family Building on Market Street. It will be open to the families of emergency room patients, as well as outpatients served by Akron Children’s Hospital, its specialists and its primary care physicians, who will be able to prescribe resources for patients.
Items include fresh meats, fruits and vegetables, canned goods, shelf-stable milk and juice and hygiene items and books.
“At Akron Children’s, we know that having nutritious food is foundational to good health, and we have spent a lot of time thinking about taking care of the whole child, not just their physical needs,” said Chris Gessner, president and CEO of Akron Children’s Hospital.
With the help of Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, the program will be yet another place families will be able to turn to find needed food.
Michael Iberis, executive director of Second Harvest, said the program is just another way Akron Children’s is showing how much it cares for people in the Mahoning Valley.
“I’ve heard from so many people that have been served here [at Akron Children’s] say, ‘You know, those folks at Akron Children’s are fantastic. … They care about me,’” Iberis said. “We’re very proud to be a part of it … and we will continue to support it, obviously, in any way we can.”
The Food Farmacy already is a successful program at the Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron, where it opened in January 2023.
The Boardman location will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays to start. Gessner indicated it may expand eventually, giving more income-eligible families a chance to “shop” in the room full of “kid friendly” and “culturally sensitive” foods.
“We also give them a book,” Gessner said. “When they leave, they can have a book about nutritious food or just fun books for them to read. … We’re big believers in helping kids learn how to read early, and we support the community with a lot of efforts to help kids read and get a good start in life.”
The program depends on other food providing sources besides Second Harvest. It was launched with grant money and will need to be supported by local donations to grow and expand. Williams urged everyone to help sustain the Food Farmacy as the hospital looks for innovative ways to obtain items in high-demand for families in need.
“Please support your local food banks,” Williams said, adding they are crucial to both the Boardman and Akron Food Farmacy locations. “This work is an incredible example of how we come together to address challenges and create lasting change for our community. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished already, and I am excited about the potential this program has to make a difference in the lives of the families we get to serve.”
Pictured at top: Chris Gessner, president and CEO of Akron Children’s Hospital, and Bernett Williams, chief engagement officer of Akron Children’s Hospital.