The volunteers of the East Georgia Regional Medical Center Auxiliary, together with employees of the hospital, filled hundreds of bags with seasonal groceries and Friday loaded them into a line of vehicles bound for Christian Social Ministries.
In a tradition that began in 2011, hospital employees and volunteers work with CSM to augment the food items the Christian charity provides for families in need just before Thanksgiving. In 2011, the effort filled 75 grocery bags, while 677 bags were prepared for this year.
“Everybody at the hospital is involved in helping with this project,” said David Keene, president of the EGRMC Auxiliary. “From the doctors to the nurses to the janitors, everybody gets excited to be part of this and wants to do their part and help some folks out who really need this at Thanksgiving.”
A decorated sheet of paper attached to each paper shopping bag named the project, “Sharing Thanksgiving.”
The sheets provided an instruction list for donors. Items to be placed in each bag included one box of stuffing mix, one can of cranberry sauce, two cans of vegetables, one box of cornbread muffin mix, one box of instant potatoes, two boxes of Jello, one box of cake mix, a can of frosting, one bag of candy and a pack of gravy mix.
“The people at the hospital and the members of the auxiliary gave all of the staple items, which are nonperishable,” Keene said, “and then we’re putting in a $15 gift certificate so that they can go to Food World and buy whatever kind of meat they want.”
Including the gift certificates, the total value of the Auxiliary’s donation was more than $28,000, according to Jaime Riggs, director of Marketing for EGRMC.
The auxiliary, which currently has 34 active members, holds fundraising activities through the year that provide money for the gift certificates and other projects.
Most of the bags were distributed Monday morning at the Christian Social Ministries food pantry on South Zetterower Ave., and more will be distributed as needed, said CSM Director John Long.
“People really appreciate it,” Long said.
