Local food bank nets $10,000 donation from HCA Florida Ocala and West Marion hospitals

Ocala, FL – HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and HCA Florida West Marion Hospital today announced a $10,000 donation to Interfaith Emergency Services to fight hunger in the Ocala/Marion County community.

For the 2024 Healthy Food for Healthier Tomorrows Food and Nutrition Drive, HCA Healthcare hospitals nationwide were encouraged to get creative and build sculptures with cans and boxes of food donated by their colleagues. The winner in each division received a $10,000 grant from the HCA Healthcare Foundation for a food bank serving its community. HCA Florida Ocala Hospital is the winner for HCA Healthcare’s North Florida Division and selected Interfaith Emergency Services’ food bank for the $10,000 donation.

Nursing managers at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital built a food structure in the shape of a smiling turkey to recognize the importance of helping neighbors during the holiday season.

“HCA Florida Ocala Hospital is grateful to be able to assist Interfaith Emergency Services in the battle against food insecurity and to help our less fortunate neighbors have a pathway to a healthier tomorrow,” said Alan Keesee, chief executive officer of HCA Florida Ocala Hospital. “I’m also very proud of our hospital colleagues who made this donation possible with their creativity, ingenuity, and desire to give back to our community.”

“Interfaith Emergency Services is honored to receive this generous donation of $10,000 from the HCA Healthcare Foundation,” said Karla Greenway, chief executive officer of Interfaith Emergency Services. “This means more to our ministry than you can imagine!”

According to Greenway, this donation allows Interfaith to fund one driver and a refrigerated truck, allowing the agency to pick up donated food from local grocery vendors. This food is free, but Interfaith must provide transportation to distribute it to recipients.

“This $10,000 will keep our truck and driver funded for five months and in those five months we will pick up approximately 365,000 pounds of food. This includes fresh produce, dairy, meats and nonperishable items, which are passed on to households in need within 48 hours,” Greenway added.

“This amount of food will provide a week's worth of groceries to 3,652 households. With an average of three persons per household that feeds over 10,000 people. We can't thank HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and HCA Florida West Marion Hospital enough for ensuring that we can sustain this ministry for the upcoming months. Words cannot express our gratitude.”

Food insecurity, the lack of consistent access to enough food to have an active, healthy lifestyle, affects 1 in 9 American families. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that 18 million U.S. households were food insecure at some point in 2023.