Dec 26, 2019 2 min read

The LeMoyne Community Center in Washington was awarded $100,000 by a health insurance company’s nonprofit to help feed hungry youth in the new year.

The center announced on Christmas Eve that it would receive the grant from the Connecticut-based Cigna Foundation to go toward Nutrafit, the center’s program for offering at-risk children and teenagers healthy snacks and meals.

“I was so worried we weren’t going to have enough food to feed the kids after the first of the year; this is a Christmas miracle,” said Joyce Ellis, the center’s executive director, in a press release. “I grew up hungry so Nutrafit hits close to my heart. I would do everything I can to make sure not another child goes hungry.”

Along with the food itself, the program includes education on nutrition and food preparation as part of a holistic approach aimed at helping recipients by first making sure they’re going through school and other activities of the day with good, nutritious food in their stomaches.

During the school year, the center serves snacks and a full dinner four days a week, and serves breakfast and lunch five days a week for 10 weeks in the center’s summer camps. It also goes on the road to offer lunch around the county with mobile sites.

“Because of this grant, we will be able to reach more youth,” Ellis said.

The Cigna Foundation is providing the funds through its Healthier Kids for Our Future initiative.