Maine’s Credit Unions Combine Forces to Support BBCH Food Insecurity Efforts

As Maine’s only fully-accredited children’s hospital, The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital takes pride in providing the very best medical care for every patient who comes through our doors. We’re committed to looking at all of the factors that might impact a child’s ability to get well or a family’s ability to focus on the health of their child. For this reason, we screen all of our families for food and diaper insecurity while they’re in our care. For families in our In-Patient Unit, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), and Emergency Department we have taken the following steps to address these needs:

Alleviating the Financial Burden
Recent data shows that 48% of BBCH patients are Medicaid recipients. For the parents or
siblings of an infant or child in the hospital, accessing meals from the cafeteria or surrounding
restaurants can place a significant financial burden on a family. BBCH has made it a goal to ensure that families can access meals while in our care despite their financial circumstances. We’ve partnered with Wayside Food Programs to make frozen meals available for families to access, as often as needed, with no questions asked.

Meeting the Immediate Needs
Screening families for food and diaper insecurity has become a standard practice at BBCH. Families who screen positive for food/diaper insecurity while their child is hospitalized at BBCH are provided with an emergency food bag and diapers to meet their immediate needs. The family is also provided with information about food access in their home community as they prepare to be discharged from the hospital.

Based on current trends, we anticipate doubling our distribution of free meals and food bags within our Emergency Department, In-Patient Unit and PICU this year. We’re thrilled to share that thanks to the support of Maine’s credit unions and the Maine Credit Union League, BBCH now has the resources to meet this growing and urgent need among our most vulnerable patient families.

Sincere thanks to the Maine Credit Union League and the following credit unions who combined forces to contribute $14,000 to support our efforts:

• Atlantic Federal Credit Union
• Bangor Federal Credit Union
• Community Credit Union
• Connected Credit Union
• Cumberland County Federal Credit Union
• Dirigo Federal Credit Union
• Eastmill Federal Credit Union
• Evergreen Credit Union
• KV Federal Credit Union
• Maine Solutions Federal Credit Union
• OTIS Federal Credit Union
• Oxford Federal Credit Union
• Saco Valley Credit Union
• Sebasticook Valley Federal Credit Union
• Trademark Federal Credit Union
• University Credit Union