LAKE COUNTY – Sutter Health, along with its Lake County affiliate Sutter Lakeside Hospital, donated a combined $10,000 to the Lake County Community Action Agency (LCCAA) on Wednesday. The donation will assist the agency in providing holiday food baskets to local families in need.
“It”s such a wonderful time for us because funds in our food basket campaign are down,” LCCAA Executive Director Georgina Lehne said. “This is going to help backfill that lack of funds and fill those 600 baskets we distribute.”
Sutter Health announced in early November that it would be making substantial donations to food banks across Northern California through each affiliate”s community benefit program. The programs are organized to work collaboratively with others in the community to address specific community health needs and improve the health of everyone in the community.
“Sutter Lakeside Hospital applauds the efforts of agencies across Lake County that are on the ground this holiday season providing vital services to the growing number of individuals and families in need,” Tammi Silva, Sutter Lakeside Hospital director of public relations said. “In spite of mounting local, state and national economic pressures and shrinking support systems, Sutter Lakeside is proud to work collaboratively with partner agencies to enhance the well-being of the communities we serve.”
Silva said that Sutter Health has a long history of partnering with and supporting charitable programs and services. “This donation ? made on behalf of the employees around the Sutter network ? further expands this commitment,” she said. “In light of the current economic environment where increased numbers of families are struggling to put food on the table, donations such as Sutter Health”s and Sutter Lakeside Hospital”s help community food banks improve their ability to serve more people.”
Lehne said the funds will assist in two ways. “This donation is so important to us,” she said. “It will not only supplement our Christmas food basket program but it will also supplement our food bank, which serves food pantries throughout the county.”
LCCAA Food Program Director Lou Denny said that the agency”s food bank and pantries are needed now more than ever. “In the present economic downturn with the dire consequences of loss of jobs, home foreclosures and lack of adequate health insurance, the need for food assistance has spread to the extent that LCCAA is serving upwards to 30 percent more people per month than it was just two years ago,” he said. “With 32 member organizations across the county, comprising child nutrition programs, group homes, soup kitchens, senior meal programs, ministries and church pantries, LCCAA is a major factor in filling their shelves and sustaining their clients.”
Lehne said this donation could not have come at a better time with food prices continuing to increase. “Last year we spent $15,000 just on turkeys and hams alone,” she said, “and each one of our food baskets is loaded with all the trimmings, including a pie, for a complete holiday dinner. We even throw in a few recipes, like turkey soup, to help them extend their meals.”
Silva said that the cornerstone of Sutter”s not-for-profit mission is made possible through its commitment to go above and beyond typical rural community hospital services by offering support at all levels to local charities, organizations, schools, individuals and causes.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
