Rowan Regional Medical Center has donated $4,750 in food cards for two local charitable organizations to give to the needy.
Nearly 200 Food Lion gift cards were donated to Rowan Helping Ministries in Salisbury and the Main Street Mission in China Grove to help people who are experiencing a crisis in their lives. Both organizations help meet the basic needs of those individuals and families through cooperative community outreach.
“We wanted to give back to our community and help those who need help the most during these hard economic times” said Jeff Lindsay, president and chief executive officer of Rowan Regional.
Some of the medical center’s larger departments are also setting up collection drives for nonprofit agencies that help the needy. The Case Management Department brought in 760 food items for Rowan Helping Ministries.
Michael Burton, spokesperson for the medical center, said some of the departments’ employees have exchanged Christmas gifts in the past. “But this year, many of them are giving back to our community through these collection drives,” he said, “and by volunteering to work at the shelters during the holiday season.”
The medical center also is setting up an Angel Tree in its administrative suite to provide an opportunity to help some of its own employees with Christmas gifts for their children. The gifts are wrapped with an angel attached to each one and then given to the appropriate supervisors at the hospital to distribute to their employees.
“In the past, Rowan Regional Medical Center has adopted a family through the Department of Social Services to help out at Christmas,” Burton said, “but this year, our staff wanted to bring this closer to home, especially during these hard economic times, and help some of our fellow employees.”