Good Samaritan Employees Spreading Christmas Cheer

Good Samaritan employees have been busy these past few weeks purchasing gifts for the hospital’s annual Giving Tree. Thanks to their generosity during this holiday season, 145 children had a little something extra for them under the tree Christmas morning.

Through the Giving Tree program, hospital employees bought Christmas gifts for less-fortunate children in the Vincennes Community, South Knox and North Knox elementary schools. Hundreds of gifts were collected for these children including toys, clothing, games, crafts and other necessities.

Rob McLin, President and CEO of Good Samaritan says the tradition of the Giving Tree gives hospital employees the opportunity to help families in need. “The overwhelming amount of support our caregivers provide for the children in our community is phenomenal,” said McLin. “Every year, our employees go above and beyond to ensure these kids have gifts to open on Christmas morning.”

For the Giving Tree, each of the grade schools provided the hospital with information on 20 to 25 children who were in need on Christmas. The parents of the children fill out anonymous information forms that include only the child’s sizes, interests, favorite colors and wishes. The information along with the child’s age is added to a tag, which is hung on a hospital tree. Good Samaritan employees then choose the children they would like to buy gifts for this Christmas.

Good Samaritan started the Giving Tree program more than 30 years ago as a way to give something back to the community while also ensuring the children of Knox County have a wonderful and meaningful Christmas.

Employees also donated numerous Christmas stockings to the residents in local nursing homes this year. “We have been collecting stockings for the past few years to donate to the local nursing homes,” said Debbie Swain, Community Relations Specialist. “We even received donations this year from the Vincennes Kiwanis Key Club. The stockings and notes they made for the nursing home residents were very appreciated.”

Each stocking was filled with various items for residents that included items such as small calendars, lotion, socks, lip balm, body wash, word search books, toothbrushes and more. The stockings and the articles inside are donated by Good Samaritan employees and community members. The hospital collected 234 Christmas stockings this year that were given to all residents in three local nursing homes.

The Marketing Department at Good Samaritan also oversees the Comfort Cart that has been making its way throughout the organization all year. Items on the comfort cart are donated by the community. “The Comfort Cart would not exist without the support of our community,” said Mallory Hughes, Marketing Communications Specialist. “We have received donations from our Amazon wish list, our own hospital Foundation and the Vincennes Rotary. The cart is all decorated for the holiday season and will be available throughout the week for our caregivers to enjoy this Christmas.”

The link for the Amazon wish list for the Comfort Cart can be found on the Good Samaritan Facebook page. All items are shipped directly to the hospital for use on the cart.