The Heimerdinger Foundation, Inc.

What The Heimerdinger Foundation, Inc. does

The Heimerdinger Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2011 and headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It provides organic, nutrient-dense meals to cancer patients and their caregivers across Davidson and Williamson Counties in Middle Tennessee, having delivered 298,000+ servings since 2013. The program operates on a tiered access model: meals are provided free of charge for the first 12 weeks of enrollment, then continue at $80 per person per month for weeks 13 through 24. The organization was founded by Kathie Heimerdinger following the death of her husband, former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, and is operationally modeled after the Ceres Community Project.

Day-to-day operations are run by Executive Director Katharine Ray with a staff of 1-10 employees and a volunteer-driven kitchen and delivery infrastructure. The Foundation generates revenue through a diversified non-profit funding stack: individual donations, corporate sponsorships, planned giving, in-kind contributions from food and service partners, client program fees, and event-based fundraising. It has established referral-based partnerships with major regional oncology care providers, including St. Thomas Cancer Care, Sarah Cannon, Tennessee Oncology, and Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, embedding its meal-delivery service into the treatment workflows of the area's principal cancer care systems.

Name

The Heimerdinger Foundation, Inc.

Legal name

The Heimerdinger Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://hfmeals.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Heimerdinger Foundation is a Nashville-based 501(c)(3) non-profit that delivers free and subsidized organic, nutrient-dense meals to cancer patients and their caregivers across Davidson and Williamson Counties in Middle Tennessee, through partnerships with regional oncology providers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cancer Nutrition Support Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (624210)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYAFAKAJAC

Medical Foods Manufacturing (Disease-Specific, Clinically Supervised)

Agriculture & Food Production/Food Processing & Manufacturing/Specialty & Functional Foods Manufacturing (Organic, Fortified, Medical Foods)

SECONDARYHLADAGAD

Meal Preparation, Nutrition Support & Feeding Assistance

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Elder Care & Long-Term Care/Non-Medical In-Home Care & Personal Care

Keywords

• Organic meal delivery
• Cancer nutrition support
• Food as medicine
• Nonprofit meal program
• Nutrition education services

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting the mission. $40 donation provides meals for one client for a week.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate sponsorships for events, classes, and program meals. Event sponsorship opportunities available.
3. Planned Giving: Legacy gifts including wills/trusts, retirement plan assets, life insurance, donor advised funds, charitable gift annuities, and stock donations.
4. In-Kind Donations: Organic produce, eggs, kitchen supplies, gardening tools, auction items, and professional services donated by community.
5. Client Program Fees: First 12 weeks free; weeks 13-24 require $80/person/month minimum payment to sustain program for additional clients.
6. Event Fundraising: Annual Hope for Healing dinner (Seeds of Summer), Sunset Suppers series, and community event partnerships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Heimerdinger Foundation operates the Meals for Health and Healing program, providing 8 nutrient-dense, organic, anti-inflammatory meals per week to individuals facing cancer and their caregivers in Davidson and Williamson Counties, Tennessee. Meals are scratch-cooked from all organic ingredients (no dairy, pork, white flour, sugar, or processed foods) and delivered weekly by volunteer "Delivery Angels" along with nutrition education materials.

Product overview

The Heimerdinger Foundation operates the Meals for Health and Healing program as a unified service focused on providing nutrition to cancer patients. The core program is supplemented by the Giving Garden (organic produce), the Healing Kitchen (meal preparation), and a Meal Delivery Program (via Delivery Angels). Combined with a Nutrition Education Program (food cards, classes, teen programs) and a published Cookbook, these components deliver comprehensive food-as-medicine support to Davidson and Williamson County residents facing cancer treatment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Meals for Health and Healing The core program providing 8 weekly organic, anti-inflammatory, scratch-cooked servings to cancer patients in active treatment and their in-home caregivers. Free of charge for the first 12 weeks, with extension to 24 weeks at $80/person/month. Designed after the Ceres Community Project model.
• Ceres Affiliate Cookbook A standalone retail cookbook containing over 100 recipes based on the "food is medicine" philosophy, published in collaboration with the Ceres Community Project Affiliate Network. Available for purchase by the general public.

Quantifiable outcome

• 298,000+ anti-inflammatory, immune-boosting servings provided since 2013
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Ceres Community ProjectflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Heimerdinger Foundation was modeled after the Ceres Community Project of Sonoma County, California. THF is a Ceres Affiliate Partner in a national network of organizations building healthier communities. The affiliation provides access to the Ceres Cookbook collaboration and peer network of similar food-as-medicine organizations.
• Bloomsbury FarmcoreOthersLocal farm partner providing organic produce donations to supplement ingredients grown in the Giving Garden.
• St. Thomas Cancer CarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of the major cancer care providers partnering with THF for client referrals, cooking demonstrations, and outreach opportunities in Middle Tennessee.
• Sarah Cannon Cancer InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCancer care provider partner for referrals and community outreach programs.
• Tennessee OncologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor oncology practice partnering for client referrals to the Meals for Health and Healing program.
• Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer CenterflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlagship healthcare partner for referrals, cooking demonstrations, and outreach. Also partner for dietetic internship program with Vanderbilt University.
• Vanderbilt University Dietetic Internship ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partnership providing dietetic interns who learn about the program, help prepare meals, and conduct special projects.
• Lipscomb UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partnership for dietetic internship program and student involvement.
• Hands on NashvilleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity nonprofit partner providing volunteer recruitment support for THF programs.
• Woman's Club of NashvilleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity organization partner for volunteer support.
• Green Door GourmetcoreOthersLocal farm partner providing fresh organic produce for meal preparation.
• Gilda's ClubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCancer support resource partner for client referrals and collaborative programming.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Others

• Food Is Medicine Coalition: National coalition of medically tailored meal providers including God's Love We Deliver, Project Open Hand, Community Servings, and Mama's Kitchen. Not a direct competitor but the trade body THF would naturally align with as it scales its cancer-focused, medically tailored meal program.

Direct peers

• God's Love We Deliver: New York-based nonprofit that prepares and home-delivers medically tailored meals to people living with serious illness including cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other conditions. Operates a comparable direct-delivery, nutrition-as-medicine model with healthcare provider referral partnerships.
• Mama's Kitchen: San Diego-based nonprofit delivering medically tailored meals to men, women, and children vulnerable due to critical illness, with a specific focus on clients living with HIV, cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Operates a directly analogous mission and home-delivery model.
• Food & Friends: Washington DC-area nonprofit delivering medically tailored meals, groceries, and nutrition counseling to people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses. Closely aligned in mission (food as medicine), delivery model, and target population of cancer patients and caregivers.
• Ceres Community Project: The Heimerdinger Foundation was explicitly modeled after the Ceres Community Project of Sonoma County, CA, and operates as a Ceres Affiliate Partner. Both organizations deliver organic, scratch-cooked, medically tailored meals to people facing critical illness using a teen volunteer kitchen model and nutrition education — making them near-identical programmatic peers.
• Community Servings: Boston-based nonprofit producing and delivering scratch-made, medically tailored meals to individuals and families living with critical and chronic illness. Operates a local kitchen + volunteer delivery model serving cancer and other patients — directly comparable in scope and method to THF.
• Project Open Hand: San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit providing meals and groceries to seniors and adults living with critical illness, including cancer. Operates a meals-plus-nutrition-counseling model very similar to THF's, with direct home delivery and clinical partnerships.

Broad incumbents

• Meals on Wheels America: National umbrella and largest direct-delivery meal provider in the US, primarily serving seniors. While broader in population (aging rather than oncology) and less medically tailored than THF, it is the dominant incumbent in the home-delivered meals category and the most-recognized brand in the space.

Emerging players

• Cook for Your Life: Nonprofit sharing free recipes and nutrition resources specifically for people affected by cancer. Overlaps with THF's mission on the nutrition education and recipe-content side rather than the meal delivery side, making it a partial-overlap peer in the oncology nutrition niche.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/heimerdingerfoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-heimerdinger-foundation-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Heimerdinger Foundation, Inc.