Originally Published by Humana.
Thanks to the generous support of the San Antonio community, the “March Out Hunger” food drive collected close to 94,000 pounds of food to help combat food insecurity in our military and veterans community.
The food drive was hosted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. VFW Texas District 20; Humana, a leading health and well-being company; and the San Antonio Food Bank.
Food insecurity is defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. In the United States, food insecurity affects 1 in 8 people.
The two-month long food drive aimed to bring awareness to the fact that 1 in 5 households served by a local food bank has at least one member who has served, or is currently serving, in the U.S. military.
“When we think of our military and veteran community, we don’t often think of hunger or food insecurity,” said Bill White, Texas Medicare President for Humana. “As part of our Bold Goal work to make San Antonio 20 percent healthier by 2020, Humana was able to partner the VFW and the San Antonio Food Bank together to impact food insecurity locally. It’s partnerships like this that will help improve the health and well-being of San Antonians.”
The food drive also included a Veterans Resource Fair hosted on Nov. 17 at the San Antonio Food Bank and a rucksack march during the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series on Dec. 2. Rucksack march participants carried 35 pounds of food in a backpack for 1.3 miles to bring awareness to food insecurity.
“At the San Antonio Food Bank, food donations are critical to the ongoing mission of collecting and redistributing food to individual and families who do not know where their next meals are coming from. The veteran population has a definite need and this program is assisting our network of partners to serve 58,000 meals weekly,” said Eric Cooper, President and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank.
“Earlier this year I was shocked and saddened to discover the impact food insecurity has on America’s veterans, and I knew the VFW had to step up and fight this disheartening injustice,” said VFW National Commander B.J. Lawrence. “No one should be food insecure especially our veterans and we’re honored to work alongside Humana and community champions like the San Antonio Food Bank to help do our part in this important initiative.”
Earlier this year, Humana partnered with Feeding America (the national network of regional food banks) to stage a series of events throughout the year that will drive food donations and raise awareness of food insecurity with a focus on helping veterans. In addition, Humana is a national affiliate partner of the VFW.
