Working with United Way to Deliver Food to Seniors in Charleston, W.Va.

As we enter traditional holiday seasons, it’s a great time to take a moment to relax. Take a moment to slow down, breathe deeply and nourish your mind and body. Take a moment to focus on you.

On September 21, 2022, fourteen Humana employees gathered in Charleston, W.Va., to pack 100 Senior Food Boxes as part of the United Way’s 17^th Annual Day of Caring. The Humana office was awash in a sea of tote bags filled with nutritious food and hand-written words of encouragement. Each bag of food was delivered to seniors in the community, aged 60 and older, who experience food insecurity.

The United Way of Central West Virginia and Humana worked together to establish the Collective Impact Project to support food insecurity in seniors during United Way’s Day of Caring. Volunteers worked to collect, pack and deliver the Senior Food Boxes—the first time that food was delivered to seniors as part of the annual Day of Caring—to raise awareness and to give the community a way to take action. The community was generous and donated 35 cases of canned foods, peanut butter, applesauce, pasta and shelf stable milk used to pack the Senior Food Boxes. 

“The United Way of Central West Virginia is doing great things for our community,” said Christine DeRienzo, Humana Population Health Strategy Lead for Bold Goal. “Their reach runs deep in our area to help members meet a variety of challenges. They lead efforts far and wide to address food insecurity, support local nonprofits and educate young professionals about community challenges.”

Humana has solidified its commitment to Charleston—designated our 18^th Bold Goal Community in 2021. Our ultimate goal is to improve the health of the people and communities we serve by addressing social needs and making it easier for people to achieve their best health. Our focus on food insecurity, loneliness, diabetes and physical health is achieved through reducing barriers to health, such as obesity, lack of physical activity, social isolation and lack of access to nutritious foods. In addition, Humana opened the Charleston MarketPoint office on July 18, 2022. 

“Day of Caring requires an enormous amount of time by dedicated individuals and volunteers. I am happy that Humana was able to help by delivering food for our seniors,” said Christine. “Central West Virginia is blessed to have caring individuals at United Way leading such important work for our community.”

Humana is honored to have participated in United Way’s Day of Caring and looks forward to further connecting and supporting our new Charleston community.