Heart Association Larissa Bedrick and Nike Ide
Sunbury-Based Grants Available from American Heart Association
SUNBURY – The American Heart Association is now offering grants to Sunbury-based businesses and organizations to help address health disparities in the area. Community Impact Director Nick Ide says the biggest issue in Sunbury is being a ‘food desert,’ meaning there’s less, low cost, access to fruits and vegetables. He says these new grants have already helped one Sunbury food market.
“When they were first founded, they didn’t have the capacity to store those healthy fruits and vegetables, and be able to apply an EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer program) retailer. So now, we’ve given them the funds to be able to purchase that equipment necessary to become that and offer those food items at a discounted price,” he said.
But Ide says the association is looking for more organizations that can use the funding to keep improving the health of Sunbury area residents, “I think there are a lot of things we can do to improve upon the health of Sunbury and Northumberland without the need for money, but unfortunately as we know, a lot of things do cost money. So having this opportunity for the organizations might be that kick start they needed, so I’d be happy to meet with anybody and encourage anyone to apply.”
He says there isn’t sufficient access to affordable nutritious foods, and smoking is prevalent along with vaping, which he says is a top contributor to much higher rates of heart disease. The group also said the annual Heart Walk will be returning. Look for lots more information on that walk coming up.
You can hear more about the American Heart Association’s mission on the WKOK.com Podcast Page or wherever you listen to podcasts.
