Anthem Inc. is collaborating with iHeartMedia, the nation’s largest audio firm, and Heart of America, a national organization dedicated to educational equity, to aid schools in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and Indianapolis battles food insecurity.
- High needs: Building and renovating learning gardens and food pantries in high-need schools is the focus of the four-city initiative, which aims to create personalized solutions to address hunger and lack of access to healthy food. The Anthem-funded collaboration intends to deliver realistic, sustainable tools that will aid schools in their nutrition efforts, with the objective of supporting communities where millions of children and families battle with hunger on a daily basis.
- Accessibility: “Having access to nutritious balanced meals is crucial for good overall health and are essential for children to learn and grow,” said Shantanu Agrawal, MD, chief health officer at Anthem, Inc. “That’s why Anthem is supporting Heart of America and helping transform school spaces into places where students can access nutritious meals, foster a deeper connection about the benefits of healthy eating and learn skills to help them lead healthy lives.”
- Increasing awareness: iHeartMedia and its network of local and national on-air personalities are joining the campaign by increasing awareness in each participating city to help listeners discover and understand that on any given day, ranging from one-in-four to one-in-seven children in their areas are hungry.
- Companion: “Being a companion to our communities are central to iHeart’s mission, and we’re proud to stand with Anthem and Heart of America to transform learning environments and increase access to healthy food across the country,” said Hartley Adkins, President for iHeartMedia Markets Group. “Unfortunately, food insecurity is a challenge that millions of our listeners face, and iHeart is committed to using our platforms to make a difference in this space.”
- Partnership: The Heart of America partnership will specifically address food insecurity in the four participating cities by assisting high-need schools in achieving their goals of providing healthy meals to students, transforming physical spaces to improve food access and capacity to distribute healthy meals, and raising awareness about the prevalence of food insecurity in our communities.