Northwell Health welcomed a $300,000 grant from National Grid Friday that will go toward nutrition through the Dolan Family Health Center as well as other programs.
Northwell’s Nutrional Pathways Program, which works with Island Harvest, provides nutritional counseling and support sessions to those in need.
Debbie Salas-Lopez, MD, senior vice president of community and population health for Northwell Health, said that the 12-week nutrition program is recording such clinical benefits as lower body mass index, lower blood sugar and lower blood pressure.
Island Harvest CEO and president Randi Shubin Dresner, noting the high cost of food caused by inflation, said “This is about our neighbors in need. Who’d imagine in a community where we have some of the wealthiest ZIP codes in the country, Island Harvest is helping over 300,000 in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. That’s a number that just shouldn’t be. We need to get the food where people are.”
Kathy Wisnewski, director of customer and community engagement for National Grid, said that through a variety of programs, “we are thinking beyond to create more fair and equitable futures, for every customer and every neighborhood we serve.”
Edward Ferrari, a longtime resident of Huntington, uses the Dolan center’s nutrition program as he recovers from a brain tumor.The program offers information on food and preparation and provides him with healthy foods to eat.
“We’re going into the sixth week,and I’ve already lost 17 pounds,” Ferrari said. “As you get older, you learn what you should and shouldn’t eat,” he said. “Late at night when you want to eat something, it’s cottage cheese, or celery, oatmeal. No more potato chips. If you’ve been through the traumatic stuff I have, I’m lucky to be here.”
