YNHHS employees, physicians, make second virtual food drive a huge success

Thank you to the hundreds of Yale New Haven Health System employees and medical staff members who donated 19,156 pounds of food to hunger-relief organizations during the health system’s second #GiveHealthy online food drive.

The donated food translates into nearly 16,000 meals for people in need throughout Connecticut and in Westerly, RI. Yale New Haven Hospital donors gave 9,290 pounds of food – 7,742  meals – to 15 Greater New Haven hunger-relief organizations. 

YNHHS started the virtual food drive because COVID-19 has made in-person food drives challenging. At the same time, the pandemic’s economic impact continues to make it harder for more people to afford enough food to feed themselves and their families.

The drive, which ran Nov. 7, 2021 – Jan. 15, 2022, was conducted through #GiveHealthy, an organization that provides an online platform for hunger-relief organizations to set up “registries” listing items they need. The initiative was organized through a system-wide collaboration among Community Health Improvement, Community and Government Relations, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Human Resources, Marketing and Communications and Food and Nutrition.

Donors throughout the health system could choose the items they wished to purchase for organizations in a particular hospital community where they live or work. Because the food shipped from suppliers directly to hunger-relief organizations, donors could purchase fresh produce.

Representatives from organizations receiving food donations expressed their gratitude for the much-needed assistance.