Sunshine Health and Farm Share Expand Partnership to Fight Food Insecurity in Florida

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Mar 23, 2023, 12:26 ET

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunshine Health, the state's largest managed care organization, and Farm Share, the state's largest independent food relief organization, today announced they have expanded their partnership to help fight food insecurity across Florida.

Sunshine Health, which serves 2.6 million members in Medicaid, Marketplace and Medicare health plans, will open a food pantry in its Lauderhill Welcome Room to bring healthy food to South Florida communities.

Sunshine Health, in collaboration with Farm Share, distributed food to 100 local families at Sunshine Health’s Welcome Room in Lauderhill, Fla.

"Healthy food is a critical component of overall mental and physical health," said Nathan Landsbaum, CEO of Sunshine Health. "It might seem unusual for a health plan to sponsor a food pantry, but the need we see in our membership and our overall community right now is at an all-time high. We needed to do something. We're grateful to our partners at Farm Share for helping turn our dream into reality, ensuring that local families have access to fresh, nutritious food."

The expanded partnership kicked off March 23 with the distribution of food to 100 families in Sunshine Health's Lauderhill Welcome Room. In partnership with Farm Share, Sunshine Health plans to expand the food distribution to more of its community centers, called Welcome Rooms, across Florida.

The partnership also expands Sunshine Health's commitment to embedding its employees as volunteers at Farm Share warehouses. This year, Sunshine Health will send volunteers to a warehouse every third Friday of the month.

"We are grateful for the dedication of Sunshine Health and their employees," said Stephen R. Shelley, President and CEO of Farm Share. "Because of support from organizations like Sunshine Health, and legions of volunteers, Farm Share is able to deliver over 8.5 million pounds of food to Florida families and food pantries each month. We couldn't be happier with this new, expanded partnership that will serve even more Floridians."

"Sunshine Health is grateful for its partnership with Farm Share, who mobilized help to victims of Hurricane Ian less than 24 hours after the storm's landfall," Landsbaum said. Following Hurricane Ian, Sunshine Health sent Farm Share $25,000 in disaster relief funds and the organizations coordinated supplies to provide to Floridians in need.

"We have similar missions of healthy — not hungry — and we are happy to further our partnership with Sunshine Health to fight food insecurity in Florida," Shelley said.

About Sunshine Health
Headquartered in Broward County and with offices across the state, Sunshine Health is among the largest healthcare plans in Florida. Offering coordinated care and a network of support for our members, Sunshine Health is transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. Sunshine Health is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a leading healthcare enterprise. It offers government-sponsored managed care through Medicaid, Long Term Care, the Health Insurance Marketplace (Ambetter), and Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans (Wellcare). Its specialty plans include the Child Welfare Specialty Plan serving children in or adopted from the state's Child Welfare system; the Serious Mental Illness Specialty Plan for people living with serious mental illness; and the Children's Medical Services Health Plan, operated by Sunshine Health on behalf of the Florida Department of Health for children and adolescents with special healthcare needs. For more information, visit SunshineHealth.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter @SunHealthFL.

About Farm Share
Farm Share is Florida's homegrown food bank. Founded for and by Floridians, Farm Share has been serving those under food insecurity since 1991 with the simple but innovative idea to recover crops from Florida farmers in order to distribute fresh and nutritious food to Floridians in need. 30 years after our inception we have fed millions, saved millions of pounds of food from going to waste and are now Florida's largest independent food bank! For more information, visit farmshare.org.

SOURCE Sunshine Health