The hospitals we work with never cease to impress us — especially their creativity and generosity of spirit during the holidays. Each year we hear about the wonderful things our clients do for staff and the community during the holidays. This week, we want to share some of those stories with you. We hope it brings a little holiday cheer to your day.
An adoption of love
“It’s not only an external miracle, it’s an internal miracle, too.” That’s how Sharon Ambrosi, Community Education Coordinator at North Kansas City Hospital, describes their Adopt-A-Family program.
Each year, the hospital works with local elementary schools to “adopt” families in need during the holiday season. It’s a simple but powerful concept: Hospital employees buy gifts for the families, and the gifts are delivered to the school before the holiday break.
One year, a young girl came to school with her mother, Sharon recalls. The girl stood in silent awe of the packages that she couldn’t believe were for her.
“Her mother said, ‘Don’t forget to say thank you.’ And the girl burst into tears and hugged me. They drove off and their little car was just loaded with gifts.”
The program means a lot to local families. And, it brings together internal employees as they work together to give each family a wonderful holiday.
Departments come together to plan gifts and later wrap the presents. In an organization of 3000+, these gatherings bring people together who haven’t had the chance to connect before. And that, as Sharon says, is an internal miracle.
This year's holiday card winner: Hayden Lyons
Parading through the holidays
This time of year, the staff at Frankfort Regional Medical Center are filled with holiday cheer and goodwill. Each December, they decorate a float and join in a parade through downtown Frankfort, Kentucky. Employees also purchase new toys for children that adorn the float.
Once the revelry is over, the gifts are distributed by Santa (with a little help this year from the Salvation Army) to needy families in the community. Parents receive the toys — wrapped and ready to share with excited kids.
Along with the yearly parade, Frankfort seeks to inspire a little creativity each year. “We host a holiday card decorating contest for children and grandchildren of employees, physicians and volunteers,” says Brad Wands, Frankfort Medical Center’s director of business development.
The lucky winner has his or her drawing featured on the card distributed to all employees, medical staff, volunteers and board members. (But, all participants get a gift for their efforts.) See the artistic talents of this year’s winner in the image above.
Stay tuned for more holiday stories throughout the week…
