August 16, 2024 • 30 mins
Special Guest Host from Toby & Chilli Mornings on 97.1 WASH FM, Chilli Amar visits with Alan Klein, who is the Chief Development Officer at HealthWell Foundation. Their Mission: To reduce financial barriers to care for underinsured patients with chronic or life-altering diseases. More information and donations at HealthWellFoundation.org
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community DC.
I'm Dennis Glasgow. If you enjoy the program or have
a guest suggestion, drop us a line at my email address,
Dennis Glasgow at iHeartMedia dot com. That's d E N
N I S G L A S g Ow at
iHeartMedia dot com. And for past Community DC shows, just
(00:29):
go to the station's website and add slash Community d C.
I'm going to take a break from hosting this week
as we have a very special guest host on this
morning show, and that's the very talented Chiliamar, one half
of the outstanding morning show Toby and Chili Mornings from
five to nine am on ninety seven to one wash FM.
Chili will be speaking with Alan Klin, who is the
Chief Development Officer for Health Well Foundation. As a say,
(00:52):
when health insurance is not enough, they fill the gap
by assisting with cope's premiums, deductibles, and out of pocket
expenses for essential treatments and medications. There's lots of great
information on their website at Healthwellfoundation dot org. So I
hope you enjoyed Chile's conversation with Alan. For the next
thirty minutes, right here on Community DC.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I am Chilli Amar, and today we are going to
learn about the health Well Foundation. This is a Maryland based,
nationally recognized nonprofit organization whose mission is to reduce financial
barriers to care for America's underinsured. Now I am here
with health Well Foundation Chief Development Officer Alan Klin so
(01:31):
we can learn more about what health Well is doing
and how they're bringing help, healing, and hope to the
people who are struggling to afford out of pocket costs
for critical and often life saving medical treatments. Hello and
welcome Alan.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Look Chilly. Thank you for having us at iHeart. iHeart
is one of my all time favorite media sources. And
you are radio royalty in the DC area, so I
am honored to be here. Well.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Thank you so much. I wish we could talk about
the royalty that is myself this whole time. I know
what I want to really know is and everyone should
know what does health Well Foundation do? When did it
start and why?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
So health Well may be the largest foundation that you
have never heard of. So health Well actually helps people
who are under insured who can't afford their prescribed medications,
and we actually pay for those medications for anything that
the patient might have to pay for out of their
own pocket. So in order to qualify really is just
(02:34):
a few simple steps. You just have to be diagnosed
with the disease that we have an open fund for.
You have to meet our income threshold. So we don't
want to help the millionaires out there. We want to
actually help the people that need the actual help. And
then you just have to be taking something that's FDA
approved or listed in one of the compendia is and
if it's a yes, yes, yes, and that you're in
(02:55):
and you get a twelve month grant from Health Well.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
What year was this started?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Health Well started in two thousand and three, that's when
we went into existence and we've been helping patients ever since.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
How did this idea come up? Like, how was it
known that there was a need to help the under insured?
Was it research base? Was it feedback based? Whoever created this?
What was there?
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Why?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Or I guess inspiration?
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So the reason why this was created is you can
go to a pharmacy counter and see there's lots of
couponing and assistance maybe for people who are there. It
is actually not legal for any pharmaceutical company to help
anybody who's on government insurance, which and the big government
(03:46):
insurance Medicare. So Medicare patients really don't have anywhere to
turn for out of pocket assistance at all. Legally, they
either have to pay completely out of their own pocket.
And mind you, the Medicare people are usually retired and
don't have a lot of disposable income, or they have
to pray to Gosh that they get on a free
(04:08):
drug program from a manufacturer, which is like winning the lottery.
Other than that, they have to make a horrible choice
between either paying for their medications, paying for food, paying
for rent, or paying for any of other life s
basic necessities. And in the United States of America, the
richest country and planet Earth, that just isn't acceptable to
our founders and to our staff.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So do you find then, because you mentioned Medicare, do
you find them that a majority of the patients or
people that you're helping are those that are no longer
employed and are under government assistance or is it pretty
much anybody that's quote unquote under insured.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
So we have funds that are open to all comers,
and we have funds open only to Medicare beneficiaries, but
overall about eighty eight percent of the patients that we
assist are actually Medicare patients.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Okay, that's a high percentage exactly. So it's been around
for if I'm doing my math right, twenty one ish years,
your math is spot Oh, thank you very much. In
that time, can you guesstimate how many patients you whose
lives you've impacted or Health Well has impacted.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yes, so, believe it or not, we are almost at
the point where we could get to one million unique
patients that we've helped since we've opened our doors. Wow,
we've programmed out over a million grants and that includes
grants to people who have received more than one grant. Now,
each grant is for twelve months, so if they qualify
the next year after their grant is done, they can
(05:35):
absolutely get another grant from Health Well. They also, if
they have multiple diseases that we have funds for, they
can get more than one disease fun grant from Health
Well as well. But as far as how many patients
we helped, we're actually right close to that one million mark.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And how much money if you again guestimate, do you
think that equates to over all this time?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Over all this time it's over four point one one
billion dollars that we've programmed out.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
My goodness.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, and last year especially was so if anybody thinks
that it's actually trending to the positive, not the case.
The need is still pervasive. So last year alone we
helped over two hundred thousand patients with over a billion
dollars in grand awards.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
All the patients that have come to health, well, how
did they find out about it? Was it their kids?
Was it co Like how are they learning about you
before this program? Of course, but like how are they
coming to find you? Generally?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yes, and this program is going to amplify that a.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Lot, which is the point we wanted to know. This
exists for.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You exactly right. So this is an absolute public resource
with our public charity, But we actually measure where we
get our referrals from, and it's kind of a neck
and neck course race between physician offices and pharmacies. About
sixty percent combined of those two referral sources get their
patients Overdue Health. Well. The others are our patient advocacy
(07:01):
organizations that you're probably pretty familiar with, in addition to
family members and other pharmacy type of sources that are
out there in industry as well that refer patients over
and sometimes patients find us themselves, and we're hoping that
this is one of those efforts where people here, yeah,
(07:22):
oh my gosh, I didn't know there was a resource
out here. Let me check this out. Or a family
member might say, oh, one of my parents, for example,
has an affliction. They could certainly use some help from health.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Well, well, because you're talking about over ninety different diseases.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Correct, Thank you, Thank you for saying that. Yes, it is.
We've helped with about almost ninety five now different disease
areas just last year alone. And then they open and close.
So when we run out of funding, it is my
job to go get more funding. So some of them
open and close throughout the year, and some of them
stay open throughout the year, and some of them, unfortunately,
if it's a year where we don't get any awards,
(07:58):
we'll remain closed throughout the year.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Do you know, based on any research, where a majority
of these one million people live, what area they live in,
or is it pretty much scattered all over?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, So we are here to help anybody who is
in the United States of America or one of its territories,
so it is spread out all over. We know exactly
what states have the highest referrals to that, and it includes,
not surprisingly, a lot of the most populous states in
the Union, in addition to a lot of the states
(08:31):
that have a population that have people who are skew
a little bit toward the higher Medicare age population.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Okay, so let's talk about the process. I know you
did a checklist a few minutes ago. Realistically, how long
does it take to fill out any forms or go
through the process of applying for said grants and then
hearing back?
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Ah, so, great question. So it takes on average, whether
you call in or do it online minutes, that's it.
Eight minutes and that's it. And then you hear instantaneously
whether you're in or not in. So it's not like
you have to wait and look at the mailbox or
wait for a phone call back. You know by the
time you log off or by the time you hang
(09:14):
up the phone whether or not you have been approved
for a health well grant.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
And again, I'm sorry because I've never been through a
process like this. Let's say I'm not approved this time.
Does that mean I can never try again, because let's
say the funds are for the lack of a better phrase,
dried up for that particular illness or whatever. Can I
come back or am I in a database now that
if something does open up, you can reach out back
to me, or do I go through the process again?
(09:38):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Yeah? You can always reapply anytime. There's no limit to
how many times you can apply for sure, and what
you can do if you don't want to just apply, apply,
apply or click refresh all the time on our website
to sign up for something that's called the Real Time
Fund Alerts, where if you pick a disease area at
health Well and give us your contact information, we will
(09:59):
send you a text, an email or give you a
phone call, whichever one you want, and let you know
that the fund status has changed, it's now open and
it's go time.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Can you just we have a moment here. What's the website?
We're gonna do this a couple more times throughout this interview.
What's the website?
Speaker 3 (10:15):
They can go, oh, God bless you. It is www
Dot Healthwollfoundation dot org. And that is a www. Dot
Healthwollfoundation dot org. Right, all one word. We can't help
that we have a long name. We apologize for that,
but please, please please don't let that stop you.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
And also it's not spelled in any funky way. It's
spelled like Healthwell Foundation should be spelled.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
It is indeed, thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
That's important. So there's like ninety to ninety five diseases
and illnesses that you help out with. Which ones are
the most common ones that you're finding, especially if you're
saying eighty eight percent of them are from the older population.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Right, So there are thousands and thousands and thousands of
different diseases out there, and we, of course I think
all of them are horrible, but the ones that we
actually get the most assistance given our way to help
patients out are probably oncology related diseases. So about half
of our programming goes toward oncology diseases. And then that
(11:19):
we have about maybe thirty to thirty five different oncology
funds that we have established and have provided recent assistance
for patients. And then the others are a Schmorgas board
of different disease areas ranging from something like multiple sclerosis
to hepatitis C to movement disorders, so basically anything and everything.
(11:47):
Cardiomyopathy are probably our most Our biggest one from a
headcount perspective is probably hypercholesterolemia, so people have high cholesterol
and have to take some expensive medications to manage that.
I think we average close to five hundred new approvals
per day per day during the course of the calendar year.
(12:08):
On that one. There are some really busy ones. We
have some days where we're programming out, especially in January
and February, somewhere between five and ten million dollars per
disease area. And I know that sounds ridiculously high, but
it is the reason why our phone ations basically are
jam packed, busy when it comes to that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
So let's say I get diagnosed with something. I realize
even the copays, I can't handle it. The medication, even
after insurance pays a part of it, it's going to
be too much for me. I get in touch with
you guys, and you say, yep, we can help. You
give me an idea of the amount of money a
(12:51):
typical patient gets.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Yeah, great question. So what we have the way we
run is basically we help with anything everything, even if
it's a small amount. So even if you need help
with your generic and it's you have a you know,
two dollars five dollars out of pocket.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Because it all adds up.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, it is sEH. Who are we to say that
that's not impactful for anybody. That's great, And we have
some funds that have a cap of thirty thousand dollars,
So sometimes people need that much because they're on a
very onerous insurance plan that doesn't pay very much even
for great medications that are out there. So we are
(13:32):
agnostic to what that is. We'll pay whatever the claim
is as long as they meet the criteria, as long
as it's one of the products that are on our
approved product list that the FDA has approved, or that
clinicians across the country used to treat that disease. Those
products range and price and they run the gamut. But
(13:52):
the average health well patient, if I had to kind
of make an estimation, needs about somewhere around for one thousand,
five thousand dollars just in their grant one grant alone.
Now there has been some assistance now that that's going
to come forward with something that the Biden administration signed
into lock, which was part of the Inflation Reduction Act,
(14:18):
and what that'll do is decrease the maximum out of
pocket that patients will have to pay moving forward, So
in two thousand and twenty five, for example, that number
will start to decrease. And if it's for a Medicare
Part D drug, the average the amount that the patients
(14:39):
will have to pay out of pocket is maximized at
two thousand dollars, So that'll help bring the average cost
down from where it is now, from five thousand dollars
to something less. We don't know what that'll be yet,
but it's headed hopefully in the right direction, but still
still two thousand dollars for people who are on Medicare
who have both retired is extremely impactful. Who are living
(15:02):
off of Social Security.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
I'm living longer now, so we longer.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Good thing.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
But I'm if I'm awarded a grant of two thousand
or five thousand or however much money, all I can
think about is, but do I pay you back? How
much time to have to pay you back?
Speaker 5 (15:18):
Like?
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Is there that stress? And and how does that part work?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
That's a great question. So basically what you do is
you go to the pharmacy counter or your physician's office
and to pick up your med insurance pays first, we
pay everything else. So basically, you do not see how
the sausage is made. You want, there's no catch, you
walk out. You walk out with your medication and hopefully
(15:43):
worry about just getting better. Don't worry about paying anybody
back nothing. You should just worry about getting better. The
last thing somebody who's diagnosed with cancer, for gosh sakes,
should have to worry about is how do I pay
for my cancer meds? Why don't you just give the
opportunity to that patient to focus on how can I
get better? How can I make sure that I beat
this thing.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
So we're not talking about borrowing money to get you
through a phase of life. We're talking about if you
qualify for this grant, you get it free and clear.
But now that begs the question, so where is the
money coming from? Alan? How is Health Wealth Foundation able
to do this for our community?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Welcome to my big job. Okay, So this is what
I do on a daily basis, and I am helped
and supported by an unbelievably great team. But what we
do is raise money from both corporate donors as well
as individual donors. We have nearly ninety thousand individual donors
(16:42):
that help us out. But the ones who stroke the
biggest checks for us are the corporate donors. And that's
not surprising because they have the resources to donate checks
that could be in the six, seven or eight figures,
whereas the average American cannot do that, even if they're
the most gentle giving philanthropists that there is.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
So to keep up with what you just mentioned, how
much you're needing every day to help, right, corporate donors
is mainly your big brand and butter.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Right, that's exactly right. That's the greatest source of revenue
for the organization.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yes, And how much money per year is your goal
to get in donation?
Speaker 3 (17:23):
So we don't really have a goal, but we basically
the more money we get, the more patience we can help,
because we have not reached a point where we said, oh,
we have too much money and nobody needs our money anymore.
So it is the kind of the reverse. You build
it and they will come to kind of quote field
the dreams there, and what happens is the more money
(17:46):
that is offered to patients who who are in need,
the more they come and use it. And then we
program that out. And then I asked for more and
it becomes a real cycle of goodness. So at the
end of the day, we wish we didn't have to
be here.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Okay, I'm listening, and I want to be a corporate donor.
I'm like, you know what, Health Well Foundation sounds amazing
and I love what they're doing. But if I'm going
to write this fat check, I want to know how
much of this check is going to this patient or patients.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
That would be a great question, and my answer back
to you would be, we pull zero percent out for
administrative costs. Oh, let me say that again, zero percent
out for administrative costs. We actually do not pay ourselves
on the administrative side out of any donation. We do
pay ourselves to get the money out to patients, So
(18:37):
our operations teams, the people that answer the phones, the
people that work hard to process checks. Yes, we do
pay those folks out of donations to get the money
out the door, but it is only on average two
point eight percent. So ninety seven point two cents out
of every dollar that you give me will go into
the patient's pocket that you're trying to help.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
And that is really a big deal, especially when there
are so many different charities out there, and sometimes you'll
write a check and what you don't want is for
a majority of that check not even to go to
the very thing or the very people that you're trying
to help. So I think that that is tremendous that
Health Well Foundation, almost one hundred percent of that money
(19:19):
is going to the patients who need it. Can you
tell me a little bit more about the patients themselves.
I don't know if you have any anecdotes. I don't
know if anyone's ever come back after receiving your help
and shared their thankfulness with you, because I think that
(19:40):
that's also good to let everyone know that these are
real people. These aren't just numbers out there. These are grandfathers, fathers, mothers,
you know, sisters that you are helping on a daily basis.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yes, and thank you for asking. So those kind of stories,
and I'll take a pause for a second, are unbelievably
heartwarm to us personally at Health Well. I mean, we
know in the abstract that we're helping patients, but to
get a call or to get a note back saying
(20:14):
I don't know if I would have been able to
spend time with the woman that I loved or the
man that I loved because we couldn't afford the medication
that kept him or her alive, and I got those
extra five or six years because we were able to
pay for that. What do you say to that? I mean,
what do you say to that? I mean? That is
(20:35):
so humbling.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
That's why you get up in the morning and do
what you do. Alan Yes, we do feel like superheroes
doing that. We wish we wouldn't have to do this.
It is a shame that in the richest country on
planet Earth, that we actually have people having to make
this horrible choice. But that being said, let us be
the band aid on the problem right now until it's fixed.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Let's switch gears a little bit from the physical health
part to the mental health part, behavioral health, What if anything,
are you doing to help patients who need that?
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Thank you for asking so. Behavioral health for me was
a passion project for the organization. The entire industry has
plenty of products to help folks with behavioral health issues,
but that affliction has been completely and totally stigmatized for
no good reason. No good reason. There is no difference
(21:30):
between somebody who has behavioral health disease that has any
other disease, including cancer or way.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
I firmly believe and I'm one of those people. The
two are connected. Your mental health impacts your physical health
vice versus, so they have to go hand in hand.
If you're going to help one, you should help the other.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
That's exactly right. That One of the first behavioral health
funds that we started was something called cancer related Behavioral Health.
So anybody that got a cancer diagnosis, Actually thirty plus
percent of people who get cancer diagnoses don't even start
their cancer medications because they have too much depression and
anxiety just from the diagnosis. Right, So we actually have
(22:06):
a fun just for those people. If you have a
cancer diagnosis and you have a behavioral health issue following
that diagnosis, depression, anxiety, whatever, we will help you not
only with the drugs to treat that depression or anxiety
so you can get yourself to the point where you
can start treatment, will help you with talk, therapy, costs
out of pockets, transportation costs to and from, whatever gating
(22:29):
financial issue that is there that you don't need to
have there in order to make you better. We want
to get rid of That's incredible.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Again.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
The website www dot Healthwall Foundation all spell correctly dot org. Yeah, so,
Healthwollfoundation dot org.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
I'm just pausing for a moment. If you want to
make a donation or help in any way this amazing foundation.
Healthwall Foundation dot org is a website. In the last
couple of minutes that we have left here, I know
that health Well was highlighted by the White House Cancer Moonshot.
Can you tell us a little bit about your participation
in that effort?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Yes, thank you for asking. So we were honored last
September to be listed as a resource for the White
House Cancer Moonshot initiative, and what that means is we
are an official part of the team that is there
to meet the expectations and goals of the Biden administration,
which is currently to make cancer something that is livable,
(23:31):
not a death sentence, and has a lot of different
organizations in the private sector, including charities like us, come together,
work together toward a common goal. We have committed ourselves
in twenty twenty four alone to provide over three hundred
million dollars and that's with an m three hundred million
dollars in financial copay assistance to any cancer patient in
(23:56):
a variety of different cancers. We have also committed our
to make sure that we assist with caregivers in the
space who are actually have a lot of out of
pocket costs associated with caregiving for patients that are in
their household. We want to make sure that that is
(24:17):
something that is not a gating issue for those folks
as well. And we also want to make sure that
we help with folks who are on clinical trials. That's
one of the big things. So on the clinical trials perspective,
a lot of folks can't afford to be on a
clinical trial because while they get free drug while they're
(24:39):
on the clinical trial to comply.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
With the protocol, are they traveling?
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Yeah, how are they getting there? They have to take
off of work, So how are they paying for that?
How they're paying for rent? If they're taking off for
work to participate in the clinical trials just to get
the free drugs, A lot of people who are socioeconomically
disadvantaged can't afford to do that, and that is not
in their best interest and it's actually not in the
country's best interest because the faster that we can get
(25:05):
these drugs tested, the faster they can get approved, the
faster they can get into the hands of patients as
an approved FDA drug. So if you get the patient
poll bigger, that's certainly in everybody's best interest. It is
a complete win when in a crappy situation for everybody.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
But so true.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Yes, so that is something that we also have put
our money where our mouth is as well. Also, we
have worked with another not for profit organization, Family Reach,
and actually sponsored their clinical trials initiative there as well.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
That's all amazing. And one last question real quick. Is
there a publication or somewhere people can stay up to
date on all health well related news.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yes, so they could sign up for something that we
put out quarterly called the Pulse, aptly named as we
are trying to brand ourselves and we are. You're easily
able to sign up for that if you go to
that beautifully named website once again, it is.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Well Foundation dot org. That's health Well Foundation dot org.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
That is why you're the best Hilly, so exactly right.
And if you go there you can actually sign up
and get any news related information. You can always opt
out if you decide you don't want it anymore, for sure,
So it is not spam. It is actually goodness and
a shock full of information. And if you want information
on maybe how to help somebody in your community or
(26:30):
in your family, that's the.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Source Healthwollfoundation dot org. Right where you go to apply
for a grant, where you go to make a donation,
where you go to see all of the things that
are happening in your organization.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Exactly right.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I really appreciate your time today. I mean, I think
it's amazing. When I first heard about Health Well Foundation,
I thought to myself, I know, I'm very fortunate, right,
I have health insurance and my family currently is able
to pay the co pays in the medicine. But to
think of such a huge part of our population who
can't say the same. And your story earlier about getting
(27:07):
feedback from patients thanking you for giving them more time
with loved ones, that they don't have to make such
tough decisions or reject treatments or medication because they can't
afford it. What you are doing for I know a
million so far, but hopefully many more people is life altering,
and I think that's fantastic. So if you want to
make a donation, if you're listening to this, you know
(27:30):
that almost one hundred percent of every dollar you know
goes to help patients all over the United States. It's
been a pleasure talking with you.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
It's an absolute honor to be here. Thank you for having.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Us Health Well Foundation dot org.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Thank you, Thank you.
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(28:37):
what's really terrifying and even deadly is distracted driving eyes forward,
Don't drive distracted, brought to you by NITZA and the
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Speaker 1 (28:49):
Like clean the oceans and make the world a better place.
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Learn more at che can Stems a message brought to
you by the AD Council.
Speaker 7 (29:01):
This is a chef of love Chef Genard, TV hosts
and restaurant tour. My grandparents harvested. They're laying to sell
food and share this overflowing bounty with our community. Grandma said,
for every yam we pick, we give one away in
the world they cultivated. I love preparing and eating dinner
with my family on Sundays. When our resources changed, food
(29:24):
assistance programs sustained us. They gave me fuel to start
my first culinary business at sixteen years old and inspiration
to donate the extra food in my community. Through my life,
I've developed an appetite to work with others to ensure
everyone has access to the nutritious food we need to thrive. Together,
(29:46):
we can help in hunger. Come on join the movement
with Feeding America by volunteering, donating, and advocating. Learn more
at Feeding America dot olg slash Act now brought to
you by Feeding America in the account so
Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community DC.
I'm Dennis Glasgow. If you enjoy the program or have
a guest suggestion, drop us a line at my email address,
Dennis Glasgow at iHeartMedia dot com. That's d E N
N I S G L A S g Ow at
iHeartMedia dot com. And for past Community DC shows, just
(00:29):
go to the station's website and add slash Community d C.
I'm going to take a break from hosting this week
as we have a very special guest host on this
morning show, and that's the very talented Chiliamar, one half
of the outstanding morning show Toby and Chili Mornings from
five to nine am on ninety seven to one wash FM.
Chili will be speaking with Alan Klin, who is the
Chief Development Officer for Health Well Foundation. As a say,
(00:52):
when health insurance is not enough, they fill the gap
by assisting with cope's premiums, deductibles, and out of pocket
expenses for essential treatments and medications. There's lots of great
information on their website at Healthwellfoundation dot org. So I
hope you enjoyed Chile's conversation with Alan. For the next
thirty minutes, right here on Community DC.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I am Chilli Amar, and today we are going to
learn about the health Well Foundation. This is a Maryland based,
nationally recognized nonprofit organization whose mission is to reduce financial
barriers to care for America's underinsured. Now I am here
with health Well Foundation Chief Development Officer Alan Klin so
(01:31):
we can learn more about what health Well is doing
and how they're bringing help, healing, and hope to the
people who are struggling to afford out of pocket costs
for critical and often life saving medical treatments. Hello and
welcome Alan.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Look Chilly. Thank you for having us at iHeart. iHeart
is one of my all time favorite media sources. And
you are radio royalty in the DC area, so I
am honored to be here. Well.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Thank you so much. I wish we could talk about
the royalty that is myself this whole time. I know
what I want to really know is and everyone should
know what does health Well Foundation do? When did it
start and why?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
So health Well may be the largest foundation that you
have never heard of. So health Well actually helps people
who are under insured who can't afford their prescribed medications,
and we actually pay for those medications for anything that
the patient might have to pay for out of their
own pocket. So in order to qualify really is just
(02:34):
a few simple steps. You just have to be diagnosed
with the disease that we have an open fund for.
You have to meet our income threshold. So we don't
want to help the millionaires out there. We want to
actually help the people that need the actual help. And
then you just have to be taking something that's FDA
approved or listed in one of the compendia is and
if it's a yes, yes, yes, and that you're in
(02:55):
and you get a twelve month grant from Health Well.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
What year was this started?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Health Well started in two thousand and three, that's when
we went into existence and we've been helping patients ever since.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
How did this idea come up? Like, how was it
known that there was a need to help the under insured?
Was it research base? Was it feedback based? Whoever created this?
What was there?
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Why?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Or I guess inspiration?
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So the reason why this was created is you can
go to a pharmacy counter and see there's lots of
couponing and assistance maybe for people who are there. It
is actually not legal for any pharmaceutical company to help
anybody who's on government insurance, which and the big government
(03:46):
insurance Medicare. So Medicare patients really don't have anywhere to
turn for out of pocket assistance at all. Legally, they
either have to pay completely out of their own pocket.
And mind you, the Medicare people are usually retired and
don't have a lot of disposable income, or they have
to pray to Gosh that they get on a free
(04:08):
drug program from a manufacturer, which is like winning the lottery.
Other than that, they have to make a horrible choice
between either paying for their medications, paying for food, paying
for rent, or paying for any of other life s
basic necessities. And in the United States of America, the
richest country and planet Earth, that just isn't acceptable to
our founders and to our staff.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So do you find then, because you mentioned Medicare, do
you find them that a majority of the patients or
people that you're helping are those that are no longer
employed and are under government assistance or is it pretty
much anybody that's quote unquote under insured.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
So we have funds that are open to all comers,
and we have funds open only to Medicare beneficiaries, but
overall about eighty eight percent of the patients that we
assist are actually Medicare patients.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Okay, that's a high percentage exactly. So it's been around
for if I'm doing my math right, twenty one ish years,
your math is spot Oh, thank you very much. In
that time, can you guesstimate how many patients you whose
lives you've impacted or Health Well has impacted.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yes, so, believe it or not, we are almost at
the point where we could get to one million unique
patients that we've helped since we've opened our doors. Wow,
we've programmed out over a million grants and that includes
grants to people who have received more than one grant. Now,
each grant is for twelve months, so if they qualify
the next year after their grant is done, they can
(05:35):
absolutely get another grant from Health Well. They also, if
they have multiple diseases that we have funds for, they
can get more than one disease fun grant from Health
Well as well. But as far as how many patients
we helped, we're actually right close to that one million mark.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And how much money if you again guestimate, do you
think that equates to over all this time?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Over all this time it's over four point one one
billion dollars that we've programmed out.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
My goodness.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, and last year especially was so if anybody thinks
that it's actually trending to the positive, not the case.
The need is still pervasive. So last year alone we
helped over two hundred thousand patients with over a billion
dollars in grand awards.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
All the patients that have come to health, well, how
did they find out about it? Was it their kids?
Was it co Like how are they learning about you
before this program? Of course, but like how are they
coming to find you? Generally?
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yes, and this program is going to amplify that a.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Lot, which is the point we wanted to know. This
exists for.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You exactly right. So this is an absolute public resource
with our public charity, But we actually measure where we
get our referrals from, and it's kind of a neck
and neck course race between physician offices and pharmacies. About
sixty percent combined of those two referral sources get their
patients Overdue Health. Well. The others are our patient advocacy
(07:01):
organizations that you're probably pretty familiar with, in addition to
family members and other pharmacy type of sources that are
out there in industry as well that refer patients over
and sometimes patients find us themselves, and we're hoping that
this is one of those efforts where people here, yeah,
(07:22):
oh my gosh, I didn't know there was a resource
out here. Let me check this out. Or a family
member might say, oh, one of my parents, for example,
has an affliction. They could certainly use some help from health.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Well, well, because you're talking about over ninety different diseases.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Correct, Thank you, Thank you for saying that. Yes, it is.
We've helped with about almost ninety five now different disease
areas just last year alone. And then they open and close.
So when we run out of funding, it is my
job to go get more funding. So some of them
open and close throughout the year, and some of them
stay open throughout the year, and some of them, unfortunately,
if it's a year where we don't get any awards,
(07:58):
we'll remain closed throughout the year.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Do you know, based on any research, where a majority
of these one million people live, what area they live in,
or is it pretty much scattered all over?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, So we are here to help anybody who is
in the United States of America or one of its territories,
so it is spread out all over. We know exactly
what states have the highest referrals to that, and it includes,
not surprisingly, a lot of the most populous states in
the Union, in addition to a lot of the states
(08:31):
that have a population that have people who are skew
a little bit toward the higher Medicare age population.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Okay, so let's talk about the process. I know you
did a checklist a few minutes ago. Realistically, how long
does it take to fill out any forms or go
through the process of applying for said grants and then
hearing back?
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Ah, so, great question. So it takes on average, whether
you call in or do it online minutes, that's it.
Eight minutes and that's it. And then you hear instantaneously
whether you're in or not in. So it's not like
you have to wait and look at the mailbox or
wait for a phone call back. You know by the
time you log off or by the time you hang
(09:14):
up the phone whether or not you have been approved
for a health well grant.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
And again, I'm sorry because I've never been through a
process like this. Let's say I'm not approved this time.
Does that mean I can never try again, because let's
say the funds are for the lack of a better phrase,
dried up for that particular illness or whatever. Can I
come back or am I in a database now that
if something does open up, you can reach out back
to me, or do I go through the process again?
(09:38):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Yeah? You can always reapply anytime. There's no limit to
how many times you can apply for sure, and what
you can do if you don't want to just apply, apply,
apply or click refresh all the time on our website
to sign up for something that's called the Real Time
Fund Alerts, where if you pick a disease area at
health Well and give us your contact information, we will
(09:59):
send you a text, an email or give you a
phone call, whichever one you want, and let you know
that the fund status has changed, it's now open and
it's go time.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Can you just we have a moment here. What's the website?
We're gonna do this a couple more times throughout this interview.
What's the website?
Speaker 3 (10:15):
They can go, oh, God bless you. It is www
Dot Healthwollfoundation dot org. And that is a www. Dot
Healthwollfoundation dot org. Right, all one word. We can't help
that we have a long name. We apologize for that,
but please, please please don't let that stop you.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
And also it's not spelled in any funky way. It's
spelled like Healthwell Foundation should be spelled.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
It is indeed, thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
That's important. So there's like ninety to ninety five diseases
and illnesses that you help out with. Which ones are
the most common ones that you're finding, especially if you're
saying eighty eight percent of them are from the older population.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Right, So there are thousands and thousands and thousands of
different diseases out there, and we, of course I think
all of them are horrible, but the ones that we
actually get the most assistance given our way to help
patients out are probably oncology related diseases. So about half
of our programming goes toward oncology diseases. And then that
(11:19):
we have about maybe thirty to thirty five different oncology
funds that we have established and have provided recent assistance
for patients. And then the others are a Schmorgas board
of different disease areas ranging from something like multiple sclerosis
to hepatitis C to movement disorders, so basically anything and everything.
(11:47):
Cardiomyopathy are probably our most Our biggest one from a
headcount perspective is probably hypercholesterolemia, so people have high cholesterol
and have to take some expensive medications to manage that.
I think we average close to five hundred new approvals
per day per day during the course of the calendar year.
(12:08):
On that one. There are some really busy ones. We
have some days where we're programming out, especially in January
and February, somewhere between five and ten million dollars per
disease area. And I know that sounds ridiculously high, but
it is the reason why our phone ations basically are
jam packed, busy when it comes to that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
So let's say I get diagnosed with something. I realize
even the copays, I can't handle it. The medication, even
after insurance pays a part of it, it's going to
be too much for me. I get in touch with
you guys, and you say, yep, we can help. You
give me an idea of the amount of money a
(12:51):
typical patient gets.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Yeah, great question. So what we have the way we
run is basically we help with anything everything, even if
it's a small amount. So even if you need help
with your generic and it's you have a you know,
two dollars five dollars out of pocket.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Because it all adds up.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, it is sEH. Who are we to say that
that's not impactful for anybody. That's great, And we have
some funds that have a cap of thirty thousand dollars,
So sometimes people need that much because they're on a
very onerous insurance plan that doesn't pay very much even
for great medications that are out there. So we are
(13:32):
agnostic to what that is. We'll pay whatever the claim
is as long as they meet the criteria, as long
as it's one of the products that are on our
approved product list that the FDA has approved, or that
clinicians across the country used to treat that disease. Those
products range and price and they run the gamut. But
(13:52):
the average health well patient, if I had to kind
of make an estimation, needs about somewhere around for one thousand,
five thousand dollars just in their grant one grant alone.
Now there has been some assistance now that that's going
to come forward with something that the Biden administration signed
into lock, which was part of the Inflation Reduction Act,
(14:18):
and what that'll do is decrease the maximum out of
pocket that patients will have to pay moving forward, So
in two thousand and twenty five, for example, that number
will start to decrease. And if it's for a Medicare
Part D drug, the average the amount that the patients
(14:39):
will have to pay out of pocket is maximized at
two thousand dollars, So that'll help bring the average cost
down from where it is now, from five thousand dollars
to something less. We don't know what that'll be yet,
but it's headed hopefully in the right direction, but still
still two thousand dollars for people who are on Medicare
who have both retired is extremely impactful. Who are living
(15:02):
off of Social Security.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
I'm living longer now, so we longer.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Good thing.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
But I'm if I'm awarded a grant of two thousand
or five thousand or however much money, all I can
think about is, but do I pay you back? How
much time to have to pay you back?
Speaker 5 (15:18):
Like?
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Is there that stress? And and how does that part work?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
That's a great question. So basically what you do is
you go to the pharmacy counter or your physician's office
and to pick up your med insurance pays first, we
pay everything else. So basically, you do not see how
the sausage is made. You want, there's no catch, you
walk out. You walk out with your medication and hopefully
(15:43):
worry about just getting better. Don't worry about paying anybody
back nothing. You should just worry about getting better. The
last thing somebody who's diagnosed with cancer, for gosh sakes,
should have to worry about is how do I pay
for my cancer meds? Why don't you just give the
opportunity to that patient to focus on how can I
get better? How can I make sure that I beat
this thing.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
So we're not talking about borrowing money to get you
through a phase of life. We're talking about if you
qualify for this grant, you get it free and clear.
But now that begs the question, so where is the
money coming from? Alan? How is Health Wealth Foundation able
to do this for our community?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Welcome to my big job. Okay, So this is what
I do on a daily basis, and I am helped
and supported by an unbelievably great team. But what we
do is raise money from both corporate donors as well
as individual donors. We have nearly ninety thousand individual donors
(16:42):
that help us out. But the ones who stroke the
biggest checks for us are the corporate donors. And that's
not surprising because they have the resources to donate checks
that could be in the six, seven or eight figures,
whereas the average American cannot do that, even if they're
the most gentle giving philanthropists that there is.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
So to keep up with what you just mentioned, how
much you're needing every day to help, right, corporate donors
is mainly your big brand and butter.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Right, that's exactly right. That's the greatest source of revenue
for the organization.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Yes, And how much money per year is your goal
to get in donation?
Speaker 3 (17:23):
So we don't really have a goal, but we basically
the more money we get, the more patience we can help,
because we have not reached a point where we said, oh,
we have too much money and nobody needs our money anymore.
So it is the kind of the reverse. You build
it and they will come to kind of quote field
the dreams there, and what happens is the more money
(17:46):
that is offered to patients who who are in need,
the more they come and use it. And then we
program that out. And then I asked for more and
it becomes a real cycle of goodness. So at the
end of the day, we wish we didn't have to
be here.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Okay, I'm listening, and I want to be a corporate donor.
I'm like, you know what, Health Well Foundation sounds amazing
and I love what they're doing. But if I'm going
to write this fat check, I want to know how
much of this check is going to this patient or patients.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
That would be a great question, and my answer back
to you would be, we pull zero percent out for
administrative costs. Oh, let me say that again, zero percent
out for administrative costs. We actually do not pay ourselves
on the administrative side out of any donation. We do
pay ourselves to get the money out to patients, So
(18:37):
our operations teams, the people that answer the phones, the
people that work hard to process checks. Yes, we do
pay those folks out of donations to get the money
out the door, but it is only on average two
point eight percent. So ninety seven point two cents out
of every dollar that you give me will go into
the patient's pocket that you're trying to help.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
And that is really a big deal, especially when there
are so many different charities out there, and sometimes you'll
write a check and what you don't want is for
a majority of that check not even to go to
the very thing or the very people that you're trying
to help. So I think that that is tremendous that
Health Well Foundation, almost one hundred percent of that money
(19:19):
is going to the patients who need it. Can you
tell me a little bit more about the patients themselves.
I don't know if you have any anecdotes. I don't
know if anyone's ever come back after receiving your help
and shared their thankfulness with you, because I think that
(19:40):
that's also good to let everyone know that these are
real people. These aren't just numbers out there. These are grandfathers, fathers, mothers,
you know, sisters that you are helping on a daily basis.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yes, and thank you for asking. So those kind of stories,
and I'll take a pause for a second, are unbelievably
heartwarm to us personally at Health Well. I mean, we
know in the abstract that we're helping patients, but to
get a call or to get a note back saying
(20:14):
I don't know if I would have been able to
spend time with the woman that I loved or the
man that I loved because we couldn't afford the medication
that kept him or her alive, and I got those
extra five or six years because we were able to
pay for that. What do you say to that? I mean,
what do you say to that? I mean? That is
(20:35):
so humbling.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
That's why you get up in the morning and do
what you do. Alan Yes, we do feel like superheroes
doing that. We wish we wouldn't have to do this.
It is a shame that in the richest country on
planet Earth, that we actually have people having to make
this horrible choice. But that being said, let us be
the band aid on the problem right now until it's fixed.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Let's switch gears a little bit from the physical health
part to the mental health part, behavioral health, What if anything,
are you doing to help patients who need that?
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Thank you for asking so. Behavioral health for me was
a passion project for the organization. The entire industry has
plenty of products to help folks with behavioral health issues,
but that affliction has been completely and totally stigmatized for
no good reason. No good reason. There is no difference
(21:30):
between somebody who has behavioral health disease that has any
other disease, including cancer or way.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
I firmly believe and I'm one of those people. The
two are connected. Your mental health impacts your physical health
vice versus, so they have to go hand in hand.
If you're going to help one, you should help the other.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
That's exactly right. That One of the first behavioral health
funds that we started was something called cancer related Behavioral Health.
So anybody that got a cancer diagnosis, Actually thirty plus
percent of people who get cancer diagnoses don't even start
their cancer medications because they have too much depression and
anxiety just from the diagnosis. Right, So we actually have
(22:06):
a fun just for those people. If you have a
cancer diagnosis and you have a behavioral health issue following
that diagnosis, depression, anxiety, whatever, we will help you not
only with the drugs to treat that depression or anxiety
so you can get yourself to the point where you
can start treatment, will help you with talk, therapy, costs
out of pockets, transportation costs to and from, whatever gating
(22:29):
financial issue that is there that you don't need to
have there in order to make you better. We want
to get rid of That's incredible.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Again.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
The website www dot Healthwall Foundation all spell correctly dot org. Yeah, so,
Healthwollfoundation dot org.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
I'm just pausing for a moment. If you want to
make a donation or help in any way this amazing foundation.
Healthwall Foundation dot org is a website. In the last
couple of minutes that we have left here, I know
that health Well was highlighted by the White House Cancer Moonshot.
Can you tell us a little bit about your participation
in that effort?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Yes, thank you for asking. So we were honored last
September to be listed as a resource for the White
House Cancer Moonshot initiative, and what that means is we
are an official part of the team that is there
to meet the expectations and goals of the Biden administration,
which is currently to make cancer something that is livable,
(23:31):
not a death sentence, and has a lot of different
organizations in the private sector, including charities like us, come together,
work together toward a common goal. We have committed ourselves
in twenty twenty four alone to provide over three hundred
million dollars and that's with an m three hundred million
dollars in financial copay assistance to any cancer patient in
(23:56):
a variety of different cancers. We have also committed our
to make sure that we assist with caregivers in the
space who are actually have a lot of out of
pocket costs associated with caregiving for patients that are in
their household. We want to make sure that that is
(24:17):
something that is not a gating issue for those folks
as well. And we also want to make sure that
we help with folks who are on clinical trials. That's
one of the big things. So on the clinical trials perspective,
a lot of folks can't afford to be on a
clinical trial because while they get free drug while they're
(24:39):
on the clinical trial to comply.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
With the protocol, are they traveling?
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Yeah, how are they getting there? They have to take
off of work, So how are they paying for that?
How they're paying for rent? If they're taking off for
work to participate in the clinical trials just to get
the free drugs, A lot of people who are socioeconomically
disadvantaged can't afford to do that, and that is not
in their best interest and it's actually not in the
country's best interest because the faster that we can get
(25:05):
these drugs tested, the faster they can get approved, the
faster they can get into the hands of patients as
an approved FDA drug. So if you get the patient
poll bigger, that's certainly in everybody's best interest. It is
a complete win when in a crappy situation for everybody.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
But so true.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Yes, so that is something that we also have put
our money where our mouth is as well. Also, we
have worked with another not for profit organization, Family Reach,
and actually sponsored their clinical trials initiative there as well.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
That's all amazing. And one last question real quick. Is
there a publication or somewhere people can stay up to
date on all health well related news.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yes, so they could sign up for something that we
put out quarterly called the Pulse, aptly named as we
are trying to brand ourselves and we are. You're easily
able to sign up for that if you go to
that beautifully named website once again, it is.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Well Foundation dot org. That's health Well Foundation dot org.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
That is why you're the best Hilly, so exactly right.
And if you go there you can actually sign up
and get any news related information. You can always opt
out if you decide you don't want it anymore, for sure,
So it is not spam. It is actually goodness and
a shock full of information. And if you want information
on maybe how to help somebody in your community or
(26:30):
in your family, that's the.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Source Healthwollfoundation dot org. Right where you go to apply
for a grant, where you go to make a donation,
where you go to see all of the things that
are happening in your organization.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Exactly right.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I really appreciate your time today. I mean, I think
it's amazing. When I first heard about Health Well Foundation,
I thought to myself, I know, I'm very fortunate, right,
I have health insurance and my family currently is able
to pay the co pays in the medicine. But to
think of such a huge part of our population who
can't say the same. And your story earlier about getting
(27:07):
feedback from patients thanking you for giving them more time
with loved ones, that they don't have to make such
tough decisions or reject treatments or medication because they can't
afford it. What you are doing for I know a
million so far, but hopefully many more people is life altering,
and I think that's fantastic. So if you want to
make a donation, if you're listening to this, you know
(27:30):
that almost one hundred percent of every dollar you know
goes to help patients all over the United States. It's
been a pleasure talking with you.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
It's an absolute honor to be here. Thank you for having.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Us Health Well Foundation dot org.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 6 (27:46):
Don't let biased algorithms or degree screens, or exclusive professional
networks or stereotypes. Don't let anything keep you from discovering
the half of the workforce who are stars, workers skilled
through alternative props rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time
to tear the paper ceiling and see the stars beyond it.
(28:08):
Find out how you can make stars part of your
talent strategy at Tear Thepaperseiling dot org. Brought to you
by Opportunity at Work in the AD Council.
Speaker 5 (28:15):
There's danger out there. It lurks on highways and quiet
neighborhood streets. It's more likely to kill you than a
shark and more terrifying than the biggest snake. Distracted driving
claims lives every day. Every notification, swipes, social post, video
or selfie while driving risks your life. So while you
might think public speaking or the zombie apocalypse is scary,
(28:37):
what's really terrifying and even deadly is distracted driving eyes forward,
Don't drive distracted, brought to you by NITZA and the
AD Council.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Like clean the oceans and make the world a better place.
Speaker 5 (28:56):
Learn more at che can Stems a message brought to
you by the AD Council.
Speaker 7 (29:01):
This is a chef of love Chef Genard, TV hosts
and restaurant tour. My grandparents harvested. They're laying to sell
food and share this overflowing bounty with our community. Grandma said,
for every yam we pick, we give one away in
the world they cultivated. I love preparing and eating dinner
with my family on Sundays. When our resources changed, food
(29:24):
assistance programs sustained us. They gave me fuel to start
my first culinary business at sixteen years old and inspiration
to donate the extra food in my community. Through my life,
I've developed an appetite to work with others to ensure
everyone has access to the nutritious food we need to thrive. Together,
(29:46):
we can help in hunger. Come on join the movement
with Feeding America by volunteering, donating, and advocating. Learn more
at Feeding America dot olg slash Act now brought to
you by Feeding America in the account so
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