For the 30 patients apart of the Healthy Foods Prescription Program, being able to get the fruits and vegetables they need is not only essential to their diet, but their overall health.
The program tailored specifically for diabetics uses food as medicine to help lower patients A1C's. The trial period for the program was funded by the Health Care District of Palm Beach County.
However, due to the spread of the novel Coronavirus, the program was unable to continue its operations normally. The question then became, how can patients still get the food they need while staying safe and not taking the risk of being exposed.
As a result, instead of the patients coming in to get their food, the program decided to bring the food to them in their cars.
The food drive enables patients with the ability to continue to get the food they need while staying safely distanced from others.
Maura Plante is the founder of the Healthy Foods Prescription Program, and along with the help of her volunteers, she has been able to put together and safely and effectively run the food drive.
“This is a vulnerable population, so having diabetes is actually having immune sensitivity, so we really have to be ultra-careful at protecting them. Today, it was a really stay in your car and let us put the food in your trunk," Plante said.
To see how the solution of a food drive in the midst of a pandemic has personally impacted not only the patients themselves, but those who volunteer their time and put themselves at risk, watch the video above.
By: Morgan Therrien