NEWS RELEASE – June 5, 2026
ARH Foundation Awards $5,000 Community Grant to Support Child Nutrition
HAZARD, Ky. — The ARH Foundation for Healthier Communities has awarded a $5,000 Community Grant to New Beginnings Childcare and Preschool Center in Hazard, Kentucky, in support of their Healthy Meals for Growing Minds project.
This grant will help provide nutritious meals for over 100 children from birth to age five, helping families access healthy food during a critical stage of growth and development.
New Beginnings Childcare and Preschool Center serves as a source of support for families around the Hazard area. The center primarily serves low to moderate income families, many of whom face ongoing challenges related to food insecurity and rising grocery costs.
“Access to nutritious food is key to lifelong health,” said Leslie Hammer, Executive Director of the ARH Foundation for Healthier Communities. “Through this grant, we are proud to partner with New Beginnings to help provide balanced meals that support wellbeing while easing financial burden on families.”
The ARH Foundation’s support of this initiative reflects its ongoing commitment to improving health and well-being across the Appalachian Regional Healthcare service area.
“This grant strengthens a resource that so many families in our region rely on every day,” said Brian Springate, CEO of Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center. “By helping ensure children
receive healthy, consistent meals, we are investing in their development and in the overall well-being of our community.”
To learn more about the ARH Foundation, the Community Grant Program, or to help make grants like this possible, visit www.ARH.org/donate.
Attached photo: Tori Robinson, Brian Springate, Jennifer Young and Angela Brewer.
About Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH)
Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) traces its roots back to 1955, when the United Mine Workers of America opened the Miners Memorial Hospital system – a network of 10 hospitals dedicated to providing care throughout the coalfields of eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia. Seventy years later, ARH has grown into a 14-hospital not-for-profit health system that serves more than 500,000 residents of central Appalachia each year. ARH hospitals in Barbourville, Harlan, Hazard, Hyden, Martin, McDowell, Middlesboro, Paintsville, Prestonsburg, West Liberty, Whitesburg, and South Williamson in Kentucky, and Beckley and Hinton in West Virginia, ensure that residents, tucked away in even the most remote areas, can access the highest quality of care without traveling hours from home. ARH’s hospitals, clinics, multi-specialty physician practices, home health agencies, home medical equipment stores, retail pharmacies, and medical spas boast more than 6,700 employees with a network of more than 1,300 providers, making it the single largest employer in southeastern Kentucky and the third-largest private employer in southern West Virginia.