This Giving Tuesday, we are raising much-needed funds to support Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Patient Food Pantry. Donate today and help us reach our goal.
With the support of a committed donor family, we are excited to share that each donation toward the Patient Food Pantry will be matched up to the first $5,000 donated. This means your gift today, in support of the Patient Food Pantry, will be doubled!
Learn more about the Patient Food Pantry with this video.
What is the Patient Food Pantry?
The Patient Food Pantry provides a free meal kit to feed a family of four, along with recipes and resources for those in need. During triage at our medical clinics on the Broadway campus, staff will screen all families for food insecurity, and those eligible receive a meal kit to take home. Currently, the Patient Food Panty can only support the medical clinics on Kennedy Krieger’s Broadway campus.
This initiative is the inspiration of Kennedy Krieger’s Director of Nutrition, Patti Miller, MS, RD, CSD, LDN, FAND. With Patti’s vision and a leadership gift from another committed Kennedy Krieger donor family, the Patient Food Pantry was started in 2021. Through our partnership with the Maryland Food Bank, the Patient Food Pantry sources quality foods that meet nutrition standards developed by the Kennedy Krieger Nutrition Department.
Our need is urgent!
The medical clinic on the Kennedy Krieger Broadway campus screens more than 1,500 patients each month for food insecurity. Of those patients screened, about 6% percent are identified with food insecurity and qualify to receive a meal kit.
Recent restrictions to the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have caused a 25% increase in the meal kits that Kennedy Krieger provides each month. The Patient Food Pantry is running out of meal kits at an increasing rate.
The Patient Food Pantry meal kits are available to help alleviate the stress on the family if they are unsure where or how they can get dinner that evening. When a family comes to one of our medical clinics, it can be an all-day event. This means parents are taking time off from work, unable to fit in time to make it to the store after traveling long distances.
Additionally, these kits provide families with resources to find local food pantries where they can obtain the majority of their nutritional needs. Nutrition education, recipes using the foods provided in the kit and information on how to apply for other resources such as SNAP or WIC (Women, Infants and Children) are also provided.
Your donation today ensures the Patient Food Pantry continues providing meal kits to our families in need and one day expands its services to the more than 27,000 patients seen at Kennedy Krieger annually! Thank you!
Related Resources
If you are interested in other ways to support Kennedy Krieger, learn how you can host a food drive to support Kennedy Krieger.