UnitedHealthcare Turns Cafeteria Into Meal-Prep Base For Greensboro Residents in Need

Partnership between UnitedHealthcare, Compass Group and eight local nonprofits is helping fill a surging need

Many Greensboro families will have access to free, healthy meals, as UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina reallocates its campus cafeteria staff to provide 6,000 meals each week, at least for the next seven weeks. The effort comes as nonprofits report massive increases in the number of families needing help in accessing food.

Leaders of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, devised the plan to help Compass Group food service workers get back to work in recently closed office cafeterias in several U.S. cities including Minneapolis and Las Vegas. The UnitedHealthcare Greensboro campus cafeteria will be among those preparing hot and cold meals to be distributed throughout Guilford County, which had one of the highest levels of food insecurity in the nation before the coronavirus crisis.

"During this unprecedented public health emergency, access to healthy meals will increasingly become a challenge for many North Carolinians," said Anita Bachmann, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Health Plan of North Carolina. "We are honored to be able to reallocate space and resources to contribute to help the needs of North Carolinians and ensure individuals can remain employed during this difficult time."

UnitedHealthcare is working with eight community partners to distribute meals and ensure Guilford County residents are fed. Those organizations include Greensboro Urban Ministry, One Step Further, Christ United Methodist Church and Family Service of the Piedmont; as well as Senior Resources of Guilford, YWCA Family Shelter, Greensboro Housing Authority and Hope Academy.

"UnitedHealthcare is the first company to come forward and generously provide enough meals to serve the guests of Potter's House community kitchen in this capacity," said Chris Ringuette of Greensboro Urban Ministry which runs the community kitchen. "This donation helps to ease the strain Greensboro Urban Ministry has felt from the increased level of community need due to the pandemic."

Meals are being prepared by 10 Compass Group employees, who normally cook for, and serve, UnitedHealth Group employees, most of whom are now working from home.

The healthy menu options change daily as directed by Compass Group's chef Amanda Boan and will include meals such as chicken parmesan, seasoned rice and steamed carrots, and boxed lunches that include an assortment of sandwiches, fresh fruit, chips and water.

UnitedHealth Group is covering the nearly $250,000 in food costs and wages for the Compass Group employees in Greensboro. This outreach builds on UnitedHealth Group's recently announced $50 million initial commitment to support communities affected by COVID-19.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group UNH is a diversified health care company dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and helping to make the health system work better for everyone. UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services through two distinct platforms: UnitedHealthcare, which provides health care coverage and benefits services; and Optum, which provides information and technology-enabled health services. For more information, visit UnitedHealth Group at www.unitedhealthgroup.com or follow @UnitedHealthGrp on Twitter.

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with over 1.3 million physicians and care professionals, and more than 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group UNH, a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on Twitter.

About Eurest USA

Eurest is a $1.75 billion food and vending organization serving the business and industry market with over 2,000 locations and more than 18,000 associates throughout the United States. Eurest serves more than 850,000 guests daily and is a sector of North Carolina-based Compass Group North America. Compass Group North America is the leading foodservice management and support services company with $18.6 billion USD in revenue in 2018. Compass Group North America is owned by Compass Group PLC based in the United Kingdom, operating in 45 countries with 600,000 associates worldwide. For more information, visit eurest-usa.com.

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