“It’s actually rewarding because being able to work for an organization that actually provides turkeys to the community or just being able to give back to the community, it’s a nice thing that our organization does and it’s rewarding to be able to give back to our community,” said Anisa Ballard, community relations representative for Buckey Health Plan.
RELATED: More than 400 Dayton-area families receive turkeys for Christmas dinner tables
Ballard said the organization has been running the ‘Operation Feed the Hungry’ holiday program for many years.
“It started on a small scale and just expanded over the years,” she said. “We’ve been doing it for nine years.”
Buckeye Health Plan is a managed Medicaid plan with a few different products for eligible individuals, which Ballard said also aligns with the program’s vision.
“Doing Operation Feed the Hungry aligns with our vision to transform the health of the community, one person at a time,” she said.
According to feedingamerica.org, more than 1.6 million people struggle with hunger — one-third of whom are children.
Buckeye Health Plan works with families in the Dayton-area, Cleveland, Columbus and a number of other cities throughout the year, providing families with the resources and tools they need to be self-sufficient.
This season, 4,000 families throughout 11 cities in Ohio will be fed.
“We actually gave out over 4,000 turkeys this week, so we know that 4,000 households will have a turkey from Buckeye Health Plan,” Ballard said.
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