Desert Care Network Breaks Cereal Drive Record

PALM SPRINGS, JOSHUA TREE AND INDIO – The three hospitals in the Desert Care Network collected a record – 9,231 boxes of cereal, or 142,081 servings — that will be shared with local food banks.

The Desert Care Network’s two Coachella Valley hospitals, Desert Regional Medical Center and JFK Memorial Hospital collected cereal and cash to benefit FIND Food Bank, a member of the Feeding America network. It is the Coachella Valley’s only Regional Food Bank.

Desert Regional collected 5,197 boxes of cereal and $3,355 in cash. JFK Memorial Hospital collected 2,200 boxes of cereal and $75 in cash during the June 7-4 cereal drive.

Desert Care Network’s Morongo Basin hospital, Hi-Desert Medical Center, donated 1,837 boxes of cereal to The Way Station in Joshua Tree, and donated $2,385 to FIND Food Bank during this year’s Healthy Over Hungry® Cereal Drive.

“The record-breaking donations we collected during our ‘Healthy Over Hungry® Cereal Drive’ will help provide local children and adults struggling with hunger, with a healthy breakfast during the summer,” Michele Finney, chief executive officer of Desert Care Network. said in a prepared statement. “Good nutrition is essential to good health, and we wanted to help lead the fight against hunger in the Coachella Valley and Morongo Basin. I am so proud of our teams for stepping up to the plate this year to demonstrate that we truly are a community built on care.”

Thanks to Tenet Healthcare (Desert Regional Medical Center, JFK Memorial Hospital and Hi-Desert Medical Center), 9,231 boxes of cereal will be distributed to families in need throughout our community, said Debbie Espinosa, President and CEO of FIND Food Bank.

“With more than 80% of school-age children in our desert qualifying for the federal Free and Reduced-Price Meal Program in school, the summer is a particularly difficult time for food insecure families,” Espinoza said. “The Healthy Over Hungry® Cereal Drive is perfectly timed to help fight hunger while school is out!”

Photo caption: This is the winning entry for the Desert Care Network hospitals’ Monument Building contest. The team from 2 Sinatra at Desert Regional Medical Center created this fabulous replica of the Tower Bridge in London.