Like Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, and food banks we partner with across our four-state footprint, Highmark Health takes action to address food insecurity every day.
Highmark Bright Blue Futures, our charitable giving and community engagement program, prioritizes improving food access and affordability in its strategic framework. Our multi-faceted approach includes investing in community gardens, farmers markets, and grassroots organizations while supporting food pantries and soup kitchens. We partner with food banks to strengthen their infrastructure and distribution networks, including raising funds through our Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community events. We invest millions of dollars to support related programs and partners that helped approximately 400,000 people last year.
Our Social Determinants of Health team also has programs to improve access to food, especially for our most medically complex health plan members. Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is one of 26 community-based organizations our team selected to launch an innovative social care network that enables us to refer members to community resources and compensate those organizations for supporting our members’ health.
Earlier this year, Highmark Health responded to the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities by pledging more than $30 million through 2030 to enhance food security, nutrition education, and physical activity across our footprint. That pledge isn’t just money, it includes measurable program commitments. For example, here in western Pennsylvania, we will expand our AHN Healthy Food Centers — a Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank partnership — to serve more than 20,000 new people.
Our “why” behind these and other actions ties directly to our core purpose as a national blended health organization. Ensuring access to nutritious food is fundamental to our Living Health model’s emphasis on proactively supporting people’s whole health rather than waiting for them to come to us after problems arise.
Our partnership with Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank represents the very best of how corporations and community organizations can align to make a real difference in people’s lives. That partnership has lasted decades, including funding, employee volunteering, board service, fundraising assistance and collaboration on countless programs. Our shared “why” is strong, and I know we will continue taking action together for years to come.
Written by David L. Holmberg, President/CEO, Highmark Health