National Park College's (NPC) Helping Hawks Food Pantry received generous donations from CHI St. Vincent last month.
The donation, which included nonperishable food items, snacks, and toiletries, was the result of a coordinated effort led by CHI St. Vincent’s Clinical Director of Nursing, Kaitlyn Atkins, and was collected by hospital staff throughout late April and early May.
Atkins said the donation resulted from a shared governance initiative at CHI St. Vincent, where staff vote annually on a local organization to support.
“This year, our shared governance voted on the National Park Food Pantry,” Atkins said. “All of the things that were donated are from our entire staff throughout our hospital.”
Atkins noted that each hospital unit contributed to the drive, with collection bins placed throughout the facility and the effort discussed during daily safety huddles.
“We just started our own food pantry and we see the need among our patients every day. We are very close with National Park College through clinical rotations and many of our nurses and co-workers are students here. We understand the need, so this is why we did it,” Atkins explained.
Nicole Page, Clinical Nurse Educator and Coordinator of the CHI National Nurse Residency Program, emphasized the hospital’s mission-driven approach.
“We model relationship-based care in our hospital as a ministry. So, we have to take care of ourselves, we have to take care of our patients, and others. Others would be our community, said Page. “As an educator myself, I actually taught here in the nursing programs. So, to give back to a community that is very close to my heart, it makes my heart happy.”
Phillip Petty, CHI Staffing Supervisor, echoed the sentiment.
“Through our values and action committee and our shared governance, we always try
to do something for the community,” Petty said. “We found out about the need here
and did a collection. All of our staff was involved, it was a great process. We learned
that there is a need for nonperishable foods and we also brought snack-type foods
that everyone loves and different toiletries and things that are in need.”
Petty added, “A lot of our co-workers are students here. We know there are times they need help, and if we can help a little bit, we’d love to.”
“We’re grateful to be the organization selected by CHI for this donation drive,” said Katelyn Beckwith, NPC Career Services administrative assistant and Helping Hawks staff sponsor. “The items they collected will go a long way in helping us keep the Helping Hawks Pantry stocked throughout the summer. The pantry remains open to students, staff, and the community year-round, so this generous donation will truly make an impact.”
The National Park College Helping Hawks Food Pantry is dedicated to supporting student success by providing access to free, nutritious food and personal care essentials. For more information, email Food.Pantry@np.edu.
Picture 1, left to right: Shannon LaDuke, Nicole Page, Phillip Petty, Kaitlyn Atkins, Nicole Herndon, Jessica Ellis.
Picture 2, left to right: Nicole Page and Timothy Webb.