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As we recognize National Food is Medicine Day on September 14, 2026, we are grateful to Atoka County Times editor and staff writer, Miranda Donihoo, for telling this story of collaboration and commitment to investing in our neighbors and building an infrastructure that supports rural Oklahoma.
While cross-sector collaboration and the braiding of multiple sources and types of funding can sometimes require more patience and perseverance to get across the finish line, I believe we have an obligation to maximize available resources and clear a path for the local and regional organizations already working side-by-side on a daily basis in service to others.
The role of the Oklahoma Impact Investing Collaborative (Collaborative) in building innovative and responsive financing opportunities for community-led work would not be possible without our director of rural initiatives, Linda Brinlee, and our partners at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation and Carolyn Watson Rural Oklahoma Community Foundation whose funding supports this leadership position.
As we work to reshape the landscape of community investment and open new doors for those doing good work, we celebrate the partners who make this Food is Medicine initiative possible:
- Fresh Rx Oklahoma
- Oklahoma Hospital Association's Foundation for a Healthy Oklahoma
- Southern Oklahoma Development Association
- Alliance Health Durant
- Coal County General Hospital
- Big Five Community Action Agency
- INCA Community Action Agency
- Oklahoma State Department of Health
- Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma
- Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
- Freedom Acres Farm
- Oklahoma State University Center for Rural Health
- Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust
We also want to thank our colleagues at the Milken Institute, for sharing the work we are doing in Oklahoma and for their national and international leadership on Food is Medicine, including Holly Freishtat, senior director, Feeding Change; Anna Lin-Schweitzer, associate director, Feeding Change; Clara Subin, associate, Feeding Change; and Sam Roth, associate director of medial relations. You can read more on our financing model for this initiative in Milken's report, Activating the Food is Medicine Ecosystem: A Framework for Stakeholder Partnerships.
Ed Long
President & Co-Founder
Oklahoma Impact Investing Collaborative
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