Suzy Lohman felt compelled to behave when she discovered that foster kids handled at Cincinnati Youngsters’s Hospital Medical Heart usually lacked correct baggage for his or her belongings. Impressed by a hospital e-newsletter request for suitcases, duffel baggage, and backpacks, Suzy launched a drive amongst EVS staff to gather these important objects. Many foster kids, she knew, relied on trash baggage to hold their garments and private objects between houses and hospital visits.
With approval from EVS Resident Regional Director of Operations Adam Wilhite, Suzy rapidly engaged roughly 424 EVS associates throughout the hospital’s 4 campuses. The mission, held in January, coincided with a service initiative in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Led by the EVS staff on the Liberty Hospital campus, Crothall associates collected about 150 suitcases, duffel baggage, and backpacks. Hospital-wide, roughly 400 objects had been donated to native charities, with the bulk going to the hospital-supported foster care program.
“One purpose this system was so profitable is that donated objects didn’t should be new—they could possibly be gently used,” says Suzy, who donated a duffel bag. “So, it could possibly be a suitcase somebody already had at house. In the long run, we collected so many baggage that the hospital despatched somebody to choose them up.”
EVS technician Amanda Holcomb donated a number of foldable duffel baggage. “I felt I wanted to contribute as a result of I need to assist anybody in want,” Amanda mentioned. “I need foster children to have one thing good to hold their belongings.”
Alyssa Binik-Thomas, Coaching Supervisor, mentioned motherhood impressed her donation. “As a mom of three, it harm to know kids in foster care had been carrying their issues in trash baggage. My kids had outgrown their Trunki suitcase, and I didn’t hesitate to verify at the least one youngster had one thing of their very own. Youngsters in foster care deserve love and the primary requirements of life. That is the naked minimal we are able to do.”
A Particular Trophy for Crothall
To acknowledge the Crothall EVS staff, Cincinnati Youngsters’s held an awards breakfast, presenting a trophy to the staff. The hospital additionally shared pictures, a video with AI-generated pictures of kids (to adjust to HIPAA), and information tales on the intranet.
“The breakfast and trophy had been a beautiful shock,” says Lohman. “It’s one other instance of robust management on the hospital and the way a lot they worth everybody right here, together with Crothall.”
“The Crothall staff supplied the most important share of donations, and we needed to indicate our appreciation,” says Haley Shropshire, the hospital’s neighborhood engagement director.
Crothall leaders plan to repeat the suitcase drive yearly, aiming to gather at the least 150 objects subsequent 12 months.
“For our associates to step up and supply the most important quantity of donations is heartwarming,” says Paul Easthon, Regional Director of Operations. “Their generosity, empathy, and dedication to the youngsters made this effort particularly significant.”
