Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital is operating a Food Backpack Program for patients experiencing food insecurity.
Since 2023, more than 150 food backpacks have been distributed in Lebanon, an average of six backpacks per month.
The program is managed by Registered Dietitian Alix Slayter and operated through the hospital’s Nutrition Services department. A partnership with Linn Benton Food Share helps the hospital provide emergency food boxes to discharged patients with food insecurity.
While the emergency food boxes work well for many patients, they require access to safe cooking equipment which not all patients may have. The Food Backpack Program fills the gap for patients who are unhoused, living without electricity or who have mobility limitations that prevent them from cooking.
The items are specifically selected for their nutrient density and ability to be consumed with little to no preparation needed. They include ready-to-eat meals, freeze dried meals, peanut butter, trail mix, cereal, shelf-stable milk, tuna salad, chicken salad and oral nutrition supplements.
The backpacks also contain useful items such as reusable silverware, bottled water and information on additional community resources, including details about how to secure long-term food resources.
The primary outcome of the program is immediate, short-term relief of food insecurity. Additionally, the nutrients provided in these backpacks support healing and management of chronic diseases. On average, each backpack contains roughly 6,300 calories and 275 grams of protein, which provides adequate nutrition for three days.
The Food Backpack Program originally supported patients in select hospital departments: Inpatient, Emergency, Wound Care and Hematology and Oncology. During the past two years, the program has expanded to include Outpatient Nutrition Services, Samaritan Treatment & Recovery Services and Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab.
“The Food Backpack Program directly supports health and healing in some of our most vulnerable patients,” Slayter said . “We are deeply grateful to the Lebanon Community Hospital Foundation for the funding that makes this much-needed resource possible.”
Lebanon’s Food Backpack Program, modeled after a program operated at Samaritan Albany General Hospital, was established in May 2023 from an initial grant from the KeyBank Foundation and is now funded through donations to the Lebanon Community Hospital Foundation.
Anyone interested in supporting the Food Backpack Program in Lebanon may contact Foundation Executive Director Brandy O’Bannon at [email protected] or make a donation to the foundation’s unrestricted fund online at samhealth.org/GiveLCHF.