IU Health Nutrition Hub gets support from Rev connection
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOne of the events that kicks off the Month of May in Indianapolis is Rev, which brings together some of Indiana’s best chefs and auto racing’s biggest names, with all funds raised supporting the Indiana University Health Foundation.
This year’s Rev took place last weekend, but a program at IU Health Methodist Hospital in downtown Indy received a big boost in horsepower thanks to connections made at last year’s Rev.
Last November, IU Health launched its Nutrition Hub at the hospital, which is designed to help fight food insecurity among patients who live in the nearby area.
Kristin Kelley, executive director of quality and safety at IU Health, told Business of Health Reporter Kylie Veleta that the idea for the hub was inspired by several patients.
“We had a patient that came in for complex surgery, and they only had milk in the fridge, and we discharged them home to milk in the fridge,” Kelley said. “We felt that food insecurity was the right place to work, particularly in Marion County where 30% rates of food insecurity can persist.”
Anyone who is battling hunger and lives in the same zip code as Methodist Hospital can use the food lockers for free. Neighbors order their groceries online, and the items are loaded into the lockers, each one a mini fridge or freezer to store the freshest items. The person uses a QR code on their phone to open the locker.
Each neighbor can order up to 150 pounds of groceries per week.
But it was a connection at last year’s Rev that inspired Texas-based Good Ranchers to contribute to the hub. The company, a sponsor of IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin, sources meat from only American farms and delivers it directly to the customers door via a subscription-based model.
“When we heard about this Nutrition Hub, about giving people quality food in times when they really need it most, maybe a moment around a table,” said Marketing Director Michael McWhorter, “whatever is bringing them to that Nutrition Hub, we wanted to be a part of that.”
Good Ranchers is donating $25,000 of protein to the food lockers, amounting to about 1,000 pounds of meat.
The food lockers with top quality meat is not only a win for flavor, but also health. Good Ranchers’ meat has no mRNA vaccines or antibiotics.
“They’re going to really really love it and it probably will get us lots more neighbors onto the program because when they have good things happening, they don’t hesitate to spread the word,” Kelley said.
A second storage area is already stocked, hoping to serve even more neighbors as Good Ranchers is beefing up the meat supply.
“To have that lasting impact through the hub of family after family meal after meal, we don’t take that privilege lightly,” McWorter said. “And so we’re always super excited to be a part of helping people come together and really make memories around great food.”
The Nutrition Hub is serving 20 neighbors now and there are plans to add more.