A partnership council volunteer day has turned into an ongoing commitment to the community for members of the Health Information Management (HIM) team. Members of the HIM partnership council initiated the group’s first-ever volunteer day in September 2020. “We all discussed how so many people were hurting or struggling in 2020. We started looking at ways to contribute that didn’t necessarily involve donating or collecting money,” explains Jennifer Seals, co-chair of the HIM Partnership Council. That conversation led Seals and other members of the HIM team to Horizon’s Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry. Volunteers spent one Sunday in September helping to stock and distribute food from the pantry.
The volunteer day quickly morphed into much more. In October 2020, members of the HIM Partnership Council began staffing the Horizon’s Food Pantry two Sundays each month. “We met so many great people at the pantry and it really energized us to see what an impact it has on people,” said Seals. The group has also coordinated several other initiatives and food drives to benefit Horizon’s Food Pantry. The most recent initiative was a Share the Love campaign in which HIM staff filled reusable grocery bags with all the ingredients to prepare a home cooked meal. That campaign alone provided 250 pounds of food for Horizon’s clients. Seals says their partnership council hopes others will be inspired by their work and look for their own ways to give back. “We love our partnership with Horizons we wanted to share this not to put the spot light on us but to put it on the community and maybe others will be inspired – even small departments can make a big difference.”
Photo caption:
Jennifer Seals (left) and Michelle Whalen, HIM