After a brief hiatus to accommodate the 2024 Johnson Road Improvement Project, Trinity Health System’s Fresh Fridays for Health Farmers Market returns to St. John Arena today, Friday, August 9, on the Trinity Medical Center West campus, located at 4000 Johnson Road in Steubenville, Ohio.
The Fresh Fridays for Health Farmers Market will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Farmers Market is a mission-driven, collaborative effort between THS Clinical Dietitian II Jessica Rea, MS, RDN, LD, and Liz Schriner, Market Director of Mission and Ethics. Trinity Health System has also partnered with It’s All Good Farm and KOLB Orchard to sell fresh fruits, vegetables, and other seasonal products.
“We anticipate that the Farmers Market will promote healthful food choices while inspiring a connection between the organizations meeting local food needs and the community members that they serve,” Rea said.
The idea originated as a mission to serve the nutritional needs of local cancer patients at Trinity Health System’s Tony Teramana Cancer Center.
“Many oncology patients struggle with malnutrition and food insecurity,” Rea explained. “The initiation of this program provides a tool to bridge these care gaps while fulfilling THS’s mission to improve the wellbeing of the patients and community members that we, together, serve.”
To further support the ministry’s intention to reach the underserved, the Trinity Health System Foundation is providing the Fresh Fridays for Health Farmers Market with goods for qualified radiation and hematology oncology patients.
“The Foundation is proud to support Fresh Fridays for Health,” Catherine Poludniak, Director of the Trinity Health System Foundation, said. “With this program, we are able to further our mission to support underserved patients through the Trinity Emergency Assistance Relief (TEAR) Fund, as well as to support their healing journey by providing them with education and information along with the fresh produce. The Foundation is honored to serve the community, our patients, and our hospital to the best of our ability to further the success of healthcare offered by Trinity Health System.”
“As we live out our mission to make the healing presence of God known in our world by improving the health of the people we serve, we know that includes increased access to good nutrition like fresh produce,” Schriner said. “The Fresh Fridays for Health initiative is one such way that Trinity Health System can help promote healthy lifestyles and help support healing journeys so that our communities can flourish.”
