Racks of clothing, tables piled with food, diapers and stacks of brightly wrapped toys filled the hall at the Faith Congregational Church in Hartford for the first Holiday Drive, sponsored by all four Hartford HealthCare Colleague Resource Groups (CRGs).
Representatives of the CRGs – colleague groups created in 2020 for Asian American and Pacific Islander; Black and African American, LGBTQ+, and Somos (Hispanic/Latine) colleagues to address ways the system can provide a more equitable, welcoming environment – collaborated on the drive. They were able to collect enough donations to adopt more than 20 families and then open the hall to distribute surplus items to the public.
“What an amazing and inspiring demonstration of generosity, compassion and caring!” says Tracey Church, HHC executive vice president and chief administrative officer and executive sponsor of the Asian American and Pacific Islander CRG.
The Holiday Drive was several months in the making, prompted by interest from members of different CRGs, who collaborated to adopt families and appeal to colleagues across the organization for donations of items on the families’ wish lists, which included sizes and interests, or monetary donations.
The effort swelled to include donations of other items families need, from winter coats to food. Volunteers gathered to set up the festive distribution center and welcome families picking up donated gifts and others able to fill bags with needed items and gift cards.
“I cannot put into words the joy and holiday spirit present in that room as our volunteers helped the community ‘shop’ and connect one-on-one with each person who came in,” says Carly Stewart, a stroke clinic nurse with the Ayer Neuroscience Institute and a Holiday Drive organizer, representing the LGBTQ+ CRG. “It was so amazing to see!”
Families were identified through Hartford Hospital’s women’s ambulatory health services and other departments, as well as colleague referrals. Each CRG adopted a few families, as did teams from the Hartford Hospital neurosciences office and revenue cycle.
The public was invited through social media and word of mouth, and could to take whatever they needed. Any clothing left after the drive was donated to local foster care agencies.