New Health Distributes Hot Meals To Charlestown Patients In Need

CHARLESTOWN, MA — North End Waterfront Health is set to distribute hot, ready to eat meals free to its patients in Charlestown. Patients who sign up, can pick up their meal starting at 12 p.m. Thursday.

The move is part of NEW Health’s ongoing Food Insecurity Program, which was started in 2016. North End Waterfront Health, one of the first full-service health center's in the neighborhood, recently celebrated five years in Charlestown.

"The health center is committed to improving the quality of health and life for its over 5,000 patients in the Charlestown neighborhood," according to the company.

Since the start of the pandemic, the center has served more than 100 families per month, including children from the Harvard-Kent School.

For the duration of the pandemic the center has provided thousands of dollars in grocery store gift cards to food insecure families, according to the New Health website. The company said Wednesday it plans to stock shelf stable ready to eat foods picked out by a nutritionist for patients, thanks to donations from the community and corporate partners.

"The point of purchasing shelf stable ready to eat food was to provide options for our patients who don’t have access to a kitchen,” said New Health nutritionist Luisa Siniscalchi. “We wanted to provide healthy foods that patients can eat right away.”

In order to receive a bag of shelf stable food you must be a patient and be referred by your doctor.

If you are a patient of the health center and in need of help, please reach out to your provider.

If you would like to donate to the NEW Health food insecurity program, you can visit: http://bit.ly/Food-Donation-NEWHealth