Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma awarded more than $1 million in grants to 23 nonprofits serving Green Country, KTUL reported Aug. 27, following an announcement at the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma in Tulsa.

The grants fund organizations working to expand health care access, fight food insecurity and provide behavioral health services across the region. Named recipients include the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, Broken Arrow-based A New Leaf and She Brews, a nonprofit coffee roastery that helps women transition out of incarceration.

Local leaders and community members gathered at the Food Bank's Kenosha Avenue headquarters for the announcement. Matt Jostes, chief development officer for the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, said the funding supports programs including Feed OK, healthcare pantries and Food as Medicine.

"It's more than just giving to a problem," Jostes said. "It's investing in a lasting solution. Blue Cross Blue Shield really understands that in our community."

The grants arrive as food insecurity remains a persistent challenge in eastern Oklahoma. The Food Bank distributes roughly 28 million pounds of food annually to more than 600 pantries and meal programs across 24 counties. More than 1 in 5 Oklahomans are food insecure, according to the Food Bank, and the USDA projects eastern Oklahoma will become the nation's most food-insecure area for children.

Demand at local pantries has not eased. Oklahoma SNAP participation fell roughly 14% between February 2025 and February 2026, according to federal data reported by KTUL on Wednesday, Aug. 26. Iron Gate executive director Carrie Vesely Henderson told KTUL that day that the Tulsa pantry's numbers were up about 6% this year despite the SNAP decline.

A New Leaf, founded in 1979, provides job training, life skills and residential services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization serves more than 500 clients and employs more than 280 staff across six greenhouses and multiple garden centers, according to its website. An estimated 29,000 people in the Tulsa metro have intellectual or developmental disabilities.

She Brews, founded in 2012 by Rhonda Bear, operates a coffee shop at 1 N. Lewis Ave. in Tulsa and recently opened a larger cafe in downtown Claremore, Daily Coffee News reported. The nonprofit provides housing, employment and job skills training for women leaving incarceration.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma provides health benefit plans to more than 850,000 Oklahomans and funds community grants annually through programs including its Blue Impact initiative. The insurer has not specified which program funded Thursday's awards.

The full list of all 23 grant recipients has not been released publicly. Individual grant amounts were not disclosed.