Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas donates $200,000 to improve access to healthy food in Saline County

SALINA, Kansas (Feb. 28, 2024) – Pathways to a Healthy Kansas, an initiative of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS), presented two $100,000 checks, one to the City of Salina to install sidewalks and another to the Salina Emergency Aid Food Bank to expand parking and improve access to the food bank.

Local Saline County residents who access the food bank by walking or biking experience significant challenges due to the lack of sidewalks around the area and room in the parking lot for loading up groceries.

“Our clients and our gardeners asked for more parking spaces and bike racks, and this funding provides exactly that,” said Karen Couch, Salina Emergency Aid Food Bank Director. “We are all so excited for the improvements funded by this grant and know it will make our services more accessible and user friendly.”

With the help of Live Well Saline County, a community coalition, and their participation over the past two years in the Pathways initiative, a total of $300,000 has now been donated to Saline County to assist with projects ranging from improving health and well-being initiatives for employees at Salina Regional Health Center to these new projects that will increase accessibility for clients of the food bank.

“The Pathways to a Healthy Kansas grant enabled us to bring everyone together so rather than doing a lot of great individual programs and efforts we were able to work more collaboratively as a community,” said Daniel Craig, Live Well Saline County Chair. “The Live Well Saline County Coalition did a great job of being strategic and linking the grant packages to make a significant impact around increasing access to healthy food in our community.”

Pathways to a Healthy Kansas is a community grant initiative launched by BCBSKS in 2016. It partners with community coalitions like LiveWell Saline County to improve active living, healthy eating and commercial tobacco prevention across the state.

“The work being done through Pathways represents our sustained commitment to Kansas communities, and our belief that healthier communities benefit us all,” said Virginia Barnes, BCBSKS Director of Blue Health Initiatives. “Our friends at LiveWell Saline County are doing great work to ensure equitable access for all residents to their local food bank.”

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas

For more than 80 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas has built a reputation of trust with its members and contracting providers by providing outstanding customer service while quickly and accurately processing claims; fairly administering benefit plans and contracts; offering programs, services and tools to help members improve or maintain their health; and operating under the highest ethical standards while being good stewards of premium dollars. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and is the state’s largest insurer, serving all Kansas counties except Johnson and Wyandotte. For more information, visit bcbsks.com.