Virtua Nutrition

Running to Alleviate Food Insecurity in South Jersey

Virtua’s Nutrition team has always celebrated National Nutrition Month each March by giving back. For many years, they would collect food donations and deliver them to a local food bank.

In 2015, wanting to increase their impact, the Nutrition team – many of whom were competitive runners – decided to combine their passion for running and nutrition, and created a family-friendly 5K Walk and Run event called “Crank the Food Bank.” This popular event has been hosted each March since that time.

Crank the Food Bank has grown tremendously, with thousands of pounds of food donated to the Food Bank of South Jersey and, from there, directly sent to Virtua’s Eat Well Food Farmacy locations to benefit Virtua patients in need. Additionally through Crank the Food Bank, they have raised thousands of dollars to support Virtua’s Eat Well food access program over the years.

The Virtua Nutrition team comprises Registered Dietitians (RDs) and Dietetic Technicians Registered (DTRs) that serve all Virtua hospitals, with more than 50 colleagues dedicated to helping Virtua patients Be Well, Get Well, and Stay Well through good nutrition. We are grateful for their efforts to alleviate food insecurity in our community!