Baptist Health Foundation awards $500,000 grant to San Antonio Food Bank
San Antonio City Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda, Baptist Health Foundation President Cody Knowlton, San Antonio Food Bank President and CEO Eric Cooper/KTSA Photo-Elizabeth Ruiz KTSA News
SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) – The Baptist Health Foundation has awarded $500,000 and the Spirit of Health Award to a local organization that feeds 120,000 area residents every week.
“We look forward to entering this holiday season with an expression of thanks to our community for their resilience and to God for carrying us through this challenging year,” said Cody Knowlton, President and CEO of the Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio.
The money will be used to expand the Food Bank’s electronic referral system, which will allow physicians to refer patients with food insecurities to the organization in a more expeditious manner.
“To be able to connect the patient to the Food Bank in a quicker way is a major step forward. The Food Bank’s leading the way on that and we wanted to be a part of it,” Knowlton said.
Eric Cooper, President and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank, pointed out that often times, doctors prescribe medication that must be taken with food, which some patients don’t have.
“With this investment, we’ll be partnering with doctors to make sure that those food-insecure patients get the nutrition that their bodies need,” said Cooper. “Food is medicine. I tend to think that if we have access to better food, we probably need less medications.”
He says the grant will go a long way toward feeding people in our community who really need help, especially during the pandemic.
“To help us continue our mission, to partner with health care, to be able to get the families the nutrition that they need — that’s really what it’s about,” said Cooper.