Cancer patients at the Yung Family Cancer Center in Edgewood won't have to choose between treatment and groceries, thanks to a $40,000 gift from a volunteer-run nonprofit with deep roots in the Northern Kentucky community.
Teal We Find A Cure, an all-volunteer nonprofit based in Union, Kentucky, announced the donation Saturday, July 26, to the NOURISH Food Pantry inside St. Elizabeth Healthcare's Yung Family Cancer Center. The pantry feeds patients and families who struggle to afford healthy meals while managing treatment costs and lost wages.
"Their generosity will help ensure that no patient has to choose between receiving treatment and putting nutritious food on the table," Dr. Doug Flora, executive medical director of oncology services at the Yung Family Cancer Center, said in a statement announcing the gift.
Since opening in June 2023, the NOURISH pantry has distributed more than 77,000 pounds of food and provided more than 64,000 meals to over 11,000 people across the region, according to St. Elizabeth. The center won the Association of Community Cancer Centers' Innovator Award in 2023. A second pantry opened in Fort Thomas in January 2025, and prepackaged bags go monthly to patients at the Grant County Cancer Center.
Federal rules restrict how tax-exempt hospitals can provide direct food support to patients, Flora has said, meaning the pantry shelves stay full only through community donations. At $5,000 per month to keep the pantry stocked, the Teal gift covers roughly eight months of food for patients.
A mission born from loss
Teal We Find A Cure was founded in 2018 by friends and family of Dr. Tracy Madrick Keith, who held a Ph.D. in nutrition and physiology from the University of Cincinnati. Keith died July 25, 2017, after a three-year battle with ovarian cancer. Before her death, she traveled to Washington, D.C., to push for increased NIH funding and was awarded the Carolyn Pultz Brown Leadership Award for her advocacy.
Tony Keith, Tracy's widower, serves as president of the organization. Jennifer Oney-Hill serves as secretary.
"The Teal We Find A Cure committee is so grateful to our supporters for making this donation possible and proud to help provide meaningful support to local cancer patients and their families," Oney-Hill said.
The group raises money through annual events featuring music and dancing. In September 2023, it fulfilled a $250,000 commitment to St. Elizabeth to name the Center for Gynecologic Cancer Care after Tracy Madrick Keith. The NOURISH gift is the organization's first donation directed at day-to-day patient support rather than facility naming.
How to help
The Horizon Community Foundation of Northern Kentucky has created the St. Elizabeth Nourish Food Pantry Fund for ongoing support. Residents who want to learn more about Teal We Find A Cure or contribute can visit tealwefindacure.donordrive.com.
