LCMC HEALTH AND ITS HOSPITALS SUPPORT SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK AND OTHER GIVING INITIATIVES FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON

LCMC Health and its hospitals are embracing the spirit of giving as we approach the holiday season

LCMC Health and its hospitals are supporting our communities this holiday season with a systemwide Holidays with Heart campaign to raise money and boost food donations for Second Harvest Food Bank, in addition to several hospitals hosting their own food drives and donations.

LCMC Health and its hospitals and clinics care for families across the Gulf South region, and throughout the year, partner with other mission-driven organizations to support the needs of these communities beyond hospital walls. One in six households in Louisiana is at risk of hunger. To combat this, Second Harvest provides food and support to over five hundred community partners and programs across 23 parishes, distributing the equivalent of more than 38 million meals a year.

“As a healthcare system deeply rooted in our community, we understand the challenges many families across our region are facing,” said Greg Feirn, CEO of LCMC Health. “The holidays often exacerbate these issues, and we want to do our part to alleviate that stress wherever we can by lending a helping hand to vulnerable individuals and families.”

From now through Dec. 12, LCMC Health is partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank for a list of non-perishable food items that are in demand over the holiday season. These include canned vegetables, like green beans, corn and yams, cornbread mix, instant mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. Please visit no-hunger.org for a full list of preferred food items.

Food donations boxes will be set up in the following hospitals through Dec. 12 to collect food, which will then be distributed in December:

• Lakeside Hospital, 4700 S I-10 Service Rd. W, Metairie, LA 70001
• Lakeview Hospital, 95 Judge Tanner Blvd., Covington, LA 70433
• East Jefferson General Hospital, 4200 Houma Blvd., Metairie, LA 70006
• Manning Family Children’s, 200 Henry Clay Ave., New Orleans, LA 70118
• New Orleans East Hospital, 5620 Read Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70127
• Touro, 1401 Foucher St., New Orleans, LA 70115
• University Medical Center, 2000 Canal St., New Orleans, LA 70112

“The need for food goes up during the holidays, and following the government shutdown, the need is especially high,” said Jon Toups, President and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank. “For this reason, Second Harvest is grateful for our partnerhip with LCMC Health and its hospitals.”

Additionally, University Medical Center has been raising money from external parties that rented their conference center space. All money collected in 2025 will be donated to Second Harvest to support local families.

In addition to LCMC Health’s fundraiser for Second Harvest, many of our hospitals will be organizing their own giveaways:

• Food items collected at Lakeview Hospital will be distributed through the Northshore Food Bank, a Second Harvest affiliate.

• Manning Family Children’s is proud to announce the establishment of a new fund thanks to a generous $30,000 donation from the Feeding Families Foundation, which will help provide meal vouchers and guest meal trays for inpatient families whose children are receiving care in the hospital.They will also be collecting food at the hospital until Nov. 30 for their on-site food pantry to support patients and their families. More details can be found here.

• New Orleans East Hospital (NOEH) will host a turkey giveaway on Nov. 15, where turkeys will be given to twenty raffle winners who attended their Night Out at NOEH event. The hospital will also host its monthly Farmer’s Market on Nov. 19, and they encourage community members to come shop local, healthy produce to go along with their Thanksgiving meals.

• Touro is partnering with the American Heart Association to provide heart-healthy food boxes to seniors who participate in their Amazing Agers program’s seminar on Nov. 19.

• The University Medical Center Cancer Center will be hosting a Thanksgiving turkey and meal kit giveaway for their cancer patients.

• West Jefferson Medical Center (WJMC) is partnering with local non-profit Gladewaves to help them collect specific food items to go along with turkey dinners. Donations will be accepted at the hospital and all WJMC clinic locations from now until Dec. 10. The only accepted food items will be: flour, sugar, condensed milk, mini marshmallows, Idaho instant mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie filling, Stouffers or Pepperidge Farms stuffing, 2 lb. bags of rice, cans of sweet potatoes, canned cranberry sauce, instance ice tea or lemonade, nutmeg, salt, pepper, canned corn, canned green beans, canned green peas, brownie or cake mix and icing.

For more information about all our food drives and donation opportunities, please visit www.lcmchealth.org/holidayswithheart.

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