Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital has partnered with the Paducah Innovation Hub to build and install Blessing Boxes on the hospital campus as well as at our other Paducah facilities.
Blessing Boxes are free-standing pantry boxes stocked with free non-perishable food and personal care items.
Items that may be placed in the box include non-perishable food items such as canned veggies, canned fruits, canned meat, canned or dry soups, macaroni and cheese and ramen noodles, as well as small personal items such as socks, first aid supplies, sunscreen, toothpaste and more. The Blessing Boxes operate under a “take what you need, leave what you can” motto. All items placed in the Blessing Boxes must be shelf-stable, non-perishable, sealed and be able to withstand hot temperatures.
“Financial insecurity, specifically food insecurity, was identified as a top community health need during Lourdes Hospital’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment,” Mike Yungmann, president of Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital, shares. “This Blessing Box project is one way the hospital plans to address this need in the community and among the patients we see on our campuses daily. We view these as an extension of our mission of caring for our patients, patients’ family members and our community, especially those who need it most.”
Carpentry students at the Innovation Hub built and assembled our five Blessing Boxes. Building materials and supplies for the boxes were funded by the Mercy Health Foundation.
Blessing Boxes are available 24/7, allowing individuals and families a quick, convenient and anonymous way to access food and personal items when they need it the most.
The locations of our Blessing Boxes are:
- Mercy Health – Marshall Nemer Medical Office Building (1532 Lone Oak Road, Paducah Ky. 42003)
- Mercy Health – Paducah Medical Pavilion (225 Medical Center Drive, Paducah, Ky. 42003) – in partnership with Heart USA
- Mercy Health – Midtown Pediatrics (548 Lone Oak Road, Paducah, Ky. 42003) – in partnership with Baptist Health Paducah
- Mercy Health – Reidland Family Medicine (6321 Kentucky Dam Road, Paducah, Ky. 42003)
- Mercy Health – Marshall County Medical Pavilion (83 Wellness Way, Benton, Ky. 42025)
“The Innovation Hub was thrilled to partner with Mercy Health on this project to provide better food access for those in need in our community, as well as provide a real-life learning opportunity for carpentry students where they’ll be able to see their work in action, right here in our region,” Steve Ybarzabal, principal of Paducah Innovation Hub, adds.
Learn about our Mission as well as the health care services we provide at Mercy Health.
