Food locker at Sentara CarePlex Hospital combats hunger in Hampton, Virginia

A refrigerated food locker with enough food for 15 families now sits prominently in front of the emergency department at Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton, Virginia. 

The food locker is open 24/7 to patients being discharged from the hospital who don’t have enough food at home. The locker is also open to community members who could use extra support. 

“If a nurse determines a patient has a need, they will give them a code to the food locker. When the patient leaves the hospital, they’ll use that code to get a week’s worth of non-perishable food for free,” said Esscence Riddick, director of patient care services at Sentara CarePlex Hospital. 

Riddick added that it can be heartbreaking for clinical staff to send patients home knowing they don’t have access to quality food. 

“Being able to actually give them food as they're leaving, that is huge from a nurse's heart. It feels good to do something good.”

The project is the result of years of planning and collaboration with the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. It was sparked by a Sentara community health needs assessment that revealed 10% of Hampton has limited access to healthy food, the highest rate in Virginia, where the average is 4%.

“This is a dream come true, even for me personally, and we couldn’t have done this without Esscence and Sentara,” said Renee Figurelle, chief operating officer of the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. “We're always looking at where people are getting food from and how they're accessing it.” 

Figurelle enters a code to access one of the food lockers.

Over 40 people, from Sentara and the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank, gathered to celebrate the first-of-its-kind food locker in the Sentara system. 

“These lockers are going to allow our neighbors access to food assistance on the weekends and after hours, while a lot of foodbanks are not available to them. So that's another huge step forward for food access as well,” said Craig Gallaer, the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank’s chief development officer. “Individuals will receive a code so it’s very discreet, very respectful, very safe food access.” 

The food lockers provide non-perishable foods for underserved patients being discharged from the hospital.

The food locker program is one of many partnerships Sentara has with the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank.

In July 2024, Sentara Home Care and the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank joined forces to deliver free food to vulnerable seniors across the Virginia Peninsula. In January 2025, Sentara opened its third community care center in Newport News, Virginia, with a retail food hub on-site in partnership with the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank.

“Sentara has always looked at innovative new ways to reach people who may not have been reached by traditional food assistance programming,” said Gallaer. 

The food lockers are restocked regularly by foodbank volunteers. They currently offer only non-perishable food items such as canned goods and plant-based proteins, but the goal is to put fresh produce in the lockers as well.

Click these links for more information about Sentara Community Cares and the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank.