Monday, August 04, 2025
Steelton, Pa. (August 4, 2025) — Highmark Wholecare, in collaboration with Hamilton Health Center and the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, will bring its statewide Farm-to-Family initiative to new heights with one of the program’s largest events to date. Held during National Health Center Week, this full-scale produce market will connect families in the Steelton and Harrisburg area to more than 8,000 pounds of fresh, locally sourced food, all of it free — alongside on-site health information, Medicaid renewal assistance, and other critical support services.
Highmark Wholecare, a part of Highmark Health, offers leading Medicaid and Medicare health plans to more than 330,000 beneficiaries across Pennsylvania.
This is the first Farm-to-Family collaboration with Hamilton Health Center and represents a significant milestone in the initiative’s expansion into Central Pennsylvania.
“What sets this effort apart is the comprehensive approach: treating food not just as nutrition, but as medicine, and pairing it with direct access to preventive health care and community resources in a trusted, neighborhood setting. Good health doesn’t begin in a doctor’s office, it begins with what’s on the dinner table,” said Michael Callaghan, supervisor, Mobile Connection Center, Highmark Wholecare. “That’s what Farm-to-Family is about: meeting people where they are with fresh food and real support.”
Rooted in Highmark Wholecare’s whole-person health philosophy, Farm-to-Family is a growing statewide model that draws together a coalition of local farmers, food banks, health care providers and schools to break down barriers to health and wellness. The program formally launched earlier this year in Pittsburgh following a successful 2024 pilot and is on track to deliver 120,000 pounds of produce to more than 6,000 families through 25 events across Pennsylvania this year.
Wednesday’s event is powered in part by local Central Pa. farming families — including Brian Campbell Farms, located in Columbia County — whose harvest is helping feed their neighbors. Members of the Steelton-Highspire School District football team will also be on-site, volunteering to assist with produce distribution — a reflection of the community-driven spirit behind Farm-to-Family’s success.
With no ID or income requirements, the market is open to all and designed to provide dignity, choice and ease of access — redefining how health care institutions engage with communities around social determinants of health.
“Families will leave the event not only with healthy food, but with tools, support and trust,” said Ellen Duffield, president and CEO, Highmark Wholecare. “This is what health access looks like in action.”
Feeding Pennsylvania, a partnership of state food banks that collectively promote and aid members in securing food and other resources to reduce hunger and food insecurity, and the City of Steelton are also playing active roles in bringing this Farm-to-Family event to Central Pennsylvania.
About Highmark Wholecare
We believe in caring for the whole person in all communities where the need is greatest. We see a future in which everyone has equal opportunity to achieve their best health. Through our leading Medicaid and Medicare programs, we are coordinating health care that goes beyond doctors and medicine that helps members achieve not just physical health but also delivers whole person care. Our team members are helping to drive this new kind of health care for our 330,000 Medicaid and Medicare members in collaboration with a network of 29,000 primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals, and other ancillary providers. We are also committed to supporting our neighbors through our many community outreach and engagement programs.
For more information, contact
John Pepper
Highmark Wholecare
412-951-1533
John.Pepper@highmarkhealth.org
