Phoebe Sumter, Healthy Sumter distributes fresh produce to residents of Webster Co.

WEBSTER Co., Ga. – Phoebe Sumter and Healthy Sumter bring a little bit of green goodness to the Webster county community.

Even in the face of heavy rain, Phoebe Sumter and Healthy Sumter remained committed to their mission of providing fresh produce to the community.

This initiative is a part of Phoebe Sumter’s broader goal to proactively bring resources and support directly to residents, rather than waiting for them to seek assistance.

“A lot of people that live in Sumter county surrounding areas have food deserts, which means they don’t have readily access to fresh fruits and vegetables. So, part of our initiative is having fresh produce giveaways. We have been doing it in Sumter county, and we have started to expand our horizons. And, Webster county is one of the areas that we were coming to and that’s where we are today,” said Marcus Johnson, Phoebe Sumter Director of Community Relations.

With the support of Flint River Fresh and volunteers, seniors were able to access fresh produce through this initiative.

“Everything is so expensive nowadays. People don’t have the travel to come get stuff. So, what we are about to do here shortly for a lot of our elderly, we have at least three people here who’re going to deliver to them so that they can be an asset to what’s going on into the community. And, we are just so elated to have produce come to our community to help our seniors, those people who are in need,” said Elaine Nealy, Webster County Family Connection Chairperson.

Phoebe Sumter and Healthy Sumter plan to continue providing fresh produce, with their next distribution scheduled to take place in Americus.

“On September the 21st, we will be having a fresh produce giveaway in Americus. It is part of our recognition for Phoebe, something winning the Most Beautiful Hospital award this year in 2024. We wanted to do something for the community because for us to have over 300,000 votes means that a lot of people in our community and surrounding areas voted for us. So, this is kind of our way of giving back. And, it also helps with our initiative of getting fresh fruits and vegetables to people that are in food deserts that don’t have readily access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Johnson.

De’Andra Jacobs reporting.

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