U.S. Bank is donating $250,000 to Truman Medical Centers to fund its Healthy Harvest Mobile Market for the next three years.
The Healthy Harvest Mobile Market, a “grocery store on wheels,” helps provide fresh, nutritious food to underserved communities primarily on the east side of Kansas City’s urban core.
“Access to fresh food is critical to building upon the quality of life and creating equal opportunity across all of our city’s neighborhoods,” said Mark Jorgenson, market president for U.S. Bank and former board chair for the Urban Neighborhood Initiative. “The Mobile Market is another example of Truman Medical Centers identifying a community need and addressing it in a creative way. U.S. Bank is committed to supporting their efforts.”
According to the news release, U.S. Bank is a longtime partner and supporter of Truman Medical Centers, including having an on-site branch on its Hospital Hill campus. The bank regularly hosts financial education seminars for patients, employees and members of the surrounding community.
The press release states, Truman added the branch in 2008 as part of its mission to address the broader needs of its patients and communities.
Truman Medical Centers President and CEO Charlie Shields said, “We commend U.S. Bank on its commitment to the health of Kansas Citians. This generous contribution will allow Truman to continue efforts to bring healthy fruits and vegetables to those in the urban core. It also allows our dietary and nutrition experts to take their know-how out of the four walls of the hospital and into the community.”
Established in 2012, the Healthy Harvest Mobile Market:
- Serves an average of 100 shoppers per day
- Centers on a wide selection of fresh fruits and vegetables
- Provides free meal planning assistance from a registered dietician
- Promotes sustainable healthy eating with educational materials
The news release states, in 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducted a study on the effects of public health for people in low-income urban areas that don’t have access to supermarkets.
The study found that 23.5 million people nationwide lacked such access, living at least a mile away from a supermarket. In turn, they had an increased likelihood to rely on unhealthy food options and become obese or develop long-term health problems.
U.S. Bank has 59 branches and employs more than 1,800 people in the Kansas City area.
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