As part of Volunteer Appreciation Month, we are thrilled to share our Mary Catherine Strobel Award Nominee for Corporate Volunteerism. This award pays tribute to businesses that have robust employee volunteer programs with high levels of participation and impact.
The Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards recognize Middle Tennessee volunteers who give their time and talents to improve the community. Now in its 31st year, the awards ceremony are Middle Tennessee’s largest annual celebration of volunteerism! Hosted by Hands On Nashville in partnership with the Strobel family, the Awards honor the spirit of service demonstrated by Mary Catherine Strobel.
This past year, HCA contributed an impressive 613 volunteer hours and the company recognized Second Harvest as the top organization where their employees volunteer the most.
HCA regularly brings highly productive and efficient teams to volunteer at Second Harvest inspecting, sorting and packing donated food. HCA volunteers are valuable to our operations because they are able to accomplish a lot of work in a short amount of time. In addition to donating time through volunteer shifts, we are privileged to have had leadership from HCA serve as board members since 2008, including Susan Goodwin and Heather Rohan.
HCA has been a critical partner in the fight against hunger for 20 years. In 2013, HCA provided the funding resources to launch the HCA School Food Pantry program in Metro Nashville public schools allowing families and children more convenient access to the food they need. As a result of this partnership, the impact has been significant with 27 school food pantries currently operating in Davidson County serving more than 13,000 households over the life of the program.
At HCA, caregiving is in their DNA so it’s only natural that they would be involved in caring for their local community. Through their Caring for the Community program, HCA gives its corporate employees the opportunity to give back to their communities through volunteer engagement and through employee giving.
The HCA Foundation encourages volunteerism and community engagement through Caring for the Community Hours. Corporate HCA employees receive 24 hours a year (12 for part-time employees) to volunteer at local agencies during regular business hours.
HCA’s Caring for the Community theme in 2016 was the “Power of 10,” and the idea was simple. Whether an HCA employee gives $10, one volunteer hour, or 10 volunteer hours, together we can make a positive impact in the community. This year marked more than 17 years of their annual day of service where corporate employees volunteer and connect with nonprofit organization in Middle Tennessee.
As a partner in the Power of Ten celebration, Second Harvest hosted a food drive and toured the city with leadership from HCA in a new co-branded truck to pick up food donations at 10 HCA stops around the city. Through this food Drive, 10,976 pounds were collected in HCA’s largest one-day food drive representing over 8,300 meals! In addition, the Power of Ten team recognized Second Harvest for outstanding Volunteer Employee Engagement for 2016 and presented a $10,000 donation to Second Harvest’s President & CEO, Jaynee K. Day.
“Companies like HCA are leaders in the shift in healthcare away from volume to a focus on how to care for health of whole populations and how to keep those patients healthy and out of the hospital. Food is an essential building block of this, especially for patients with medical conditions or medication needs that depend on proper nutrition. We truly believe that food is medicine, and we are working to provide more nutritious foods to those we serve. Last year we distributed more than 9 million pounds of fresh produce. HCA has committed to help sustain our produce acquisition efforts so that we can provide even more fresh fruits and vegetables, sourced directly from local and regional farms.” – Jaynee K. Day, President & CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee
Congratulations to HCA on this well deserved nomination!
