Local bank donates $12,000 to Quakertown area food security initiative
QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (August 2023) – Penn Community Bank, the largest mutual bank in eastern Pennsylvania, has once again partnered with St. Luke’s University Health Network to ensure no Quakertown-area child goes without a nutritious lunch during the summer months.
“As a community bank, we’re committed to building thriving communities – now, and into the future. That begins by ensuring children in our region have reliable access to healthy food throughout the year – including during the summer months,” said Jeane M. Vidoni, President and CEO of Penn Community Bank. “We are proud to once again partner with St. Luke’s to support the summer meals program in the Quakertown community and work and combat food insecurity.”
“St. Luke’s is proud of the Summer Meals Program, providing our community access to healthy meals throughout the summer. We are grateful for the financial support from Penn Community Bank and our program partnership with Free Fall Energy Center,” said Kathy Ramson Network Director Community Health Clinical Operations.
The 2023 Quakertown Summer Meals Program began in June following the end of the school year and will run through the end of August. Penn Community Bank’s contribution of $12,000 expands the program by providing children with access to a wider variety of healthy meal options, weekly community supported agriculture (CSA) items, and weekend snacks and financial literacy education and other engaging activities. As of mid-August, the program had served over 3,000 meals and provided fresh produce from its St. Luke’s-Rodale Institute Organic Farm along with bags of weekend food.
The program, launched in 2019, was created in response to St. Luke’s University Health Network’s Community Health Needs Assessment which found over 50% of Quakertown Area School District students are eligible for free and reduced meals during the academic school year and may lack sufficient food during the summer months.
About Penn Community Bank: Penn Community Bank holds more than $2.6 billion in assets, employs more than 300 people, and offers banking, lending and investments at 20+ bank financial centers and administrative centers throughout Bucks and Montgomery counties, Pennsylvania. As an independent, mutual financial institution, Penn Community Bank is not publicly traded and operates with its long-term mission in mind: to help businesses grow and prosper, to provide financial resources to individuals and families throughout their lifetimes, to strengthen the local economy, and to partner with local organizations to act as a catalyst for positive growth in every market it serves.
About St. Luke’s: Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 17,000 employees providing services at 12 hospitals sites and 300+ outpatient sites. With annual net revenue in excess of $2.7 billion, the Network’s service area includes 10 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only regional medical school campus. It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 38 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 347 residents and fellows. St. Luke’s is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. St. Luke’s is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. U.S. News & World Report ranked St. Luke’s #1 in the Lehigh Valley and #6 in the state. Three of IBM Watson Health’s 100 Top Hospitals are St. Luke’s hospitals. St. Luke’s flagship University Hospital has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health nine times total and seven years in a row, including in 2021 when it was identified as THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. In 2021, IBM Watson Health also named St. Luke’s among the 15 Top Health Systems nationally. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers.
