Community donations inspire hospital staff to pay it forward with $10K food-bank fundraiser
Touched by the community support they've received, a group of emergency physicians is paying it forward with a fundraiser for the Richmond Food Bank.
Jennifer Hunter, director of long-term care, assisted living and palliative care at Richmond Hospital, says community residents and businesses have been dropping off food and supplies there to help ease the burden on health-care workers.
"It's been so great seeing everyone come together, from the cheer to providing meals and donations," Hunter told host Gloria Macarenko on CBC's On The Coast.
"It's been amazing to see how this has actually created a huge boost to our staff."
Knowing how much some members of the community are struggling, the staff at the hospital wanted to pay that support forward.
"People are suddenly not working, they may be struggling to buy groceries," Hunter said. "It was our emergency department team that had this idea, really about the supporting our community by donating to our food bank."
Staff are trying to raise $10,000. As of Monday, they had already raised $3,600.
In the meantime, staff are preparing for more COVID-19 cases.
"We are working continually to refine our surge capacity plan," Hunter said. "We're continuously doing training and education with our staff, both in acute and community care, to ensure that they are prepared."
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