With the holiday season in full gear, Methodist Hospitals set aside some time to give back to the community and their staff members with two memorable events.
All through the week, Methodist Hospitals invited their employees to enjoy a free holiday meal. Cooked by their dedicated chefs and served by staff managers, directors, and other team leaders, the free meal was Methodist’s way of showing their employees some extra appreciation.
“It’s a good way for us to say thank you for all of the hard work our staff members do throughout the year,” said Amy Grzyb, Director of Food and Nutrition for Methodist Hospitals. “It’s really rewarding for the employees to be served by the people they work for or report to within their departments. It’s a nice change of pace to have some great volunteers that help us pull this off for the organization.”
One volunteer was Rodney Morris, Director of Public Safety and Security for Methodist Hospitals. He took shifts both behind the dining counter and as a greeter.
“I think it’s a great gift to the staff,” he said. “We know money and time get tight during the holiday season, and we want to show appreciation for all the wonderful work our staff does. It also gives me a chance to meet with everybody, shake hands, and catch up with some people I haven’t seen in a while.”
The kitchen team went all out on the menu, which featured options like carved roast beef, roasted rosemary chicken quarter, pasta primavera, and a full assortment of desserts.
“It’s extremely satisfying and gratifying to support all these people that play important roles in caring for the patients,” said Steven Ellis, Operations Manager for Methodist’s Food & Nutrition Services. “Sometimes you have to take care of the people that take care of the people. They deserve it tenfold, I wish we had more holidays to give even more.”
While team members dined in the cafeteria, Methodist was helping the Salvation Army load trucks full of toys and other gifts as part of their second big event – the Methodist Hospitals’ Angel Tree Drive. Employees from every department came together to sponsor 177 children in need for the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program.
“This is super exciting! We’ve had a partnership with Methodist for many years,” said Amanda Keene, Captain at the Salvation Army of Gary-Merrillville. “They just continuously sponsor more Angels for us. They’re very generous and we love the partnership we have with Methodist.”
Angels that receive gifts are ages 12 or under, and in some cases, the gift they receive from sponsors like Methodist Hospitals might be the only one they get on Christmas morning.
“We’re serving about 440 families and 1700 kids,” Keene said. “It’s huge. Kids want to get presents for Christmas but some families just don’t have the resources. We’re blessed to be able to provide those resources in partnership with other organizations like Methodist Hospitals.”
To learn more about Methodist Hospitals, visit www.methodisthospitals.org.
