Hospital Foundation program feeds healthcare workers, local businesses all at once

The St. Tammany Hospital Foundation’s new ‘Sustaining St. Tammany’ program provides a way for people to say thank you to local healthcare workers while also supporting local businesses. (Image via Shutterstock)

By Mike Scott, mscott@stph.org

Question: What’s better than giving a gift that is guaranteed to brighten someone’s day?

Answer: Giving a gift that brightens the day of at least two people.

A new program launched by the St. Tammany Hospital Foundation offers a way for people to do just that, through gifts that will feed the bank accounts of local businesses while at the same time feeding the bellies -- and the souls – of healthcare workers on the front lines of the war on COVID-19 coronavirus.

Called “Sustaining St. Tammany,” the program was born out of a heartfelt desire of many locals to provide food to employees at St. Tammany Health System as a sign of gratitude for their dedication, professionalism and tirelessness in the COVID-19 fight.

The trick is how to provide food gifts safely, given safe handling guidelines from the health department.

Enter the Foundation and its innovative Sustaining St. Tammany idea, which not only solves that food safety problem but which also benefits local businesses left hurting by COVID-related self-isolation practices and restaurant restrictions.

Through it, the Foundation is inviting locals to purchase gift cards from their favorite local businesses – restaurants, coffee shops, gas stations and other small businesses – then deposit them in the donation slot outside the Foundation office at 1127 S. Tyler St. in Covington between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Cash gifts are also being accepted in support of the Sustaining St. Tammany initiative via the donation slot or online through the Foundation website at www.sthfoundation.org.  

The Foundation will then distribute the gift cards in one of two ways: Smaller cards and non-restaurant cards will be given out in weekly drawings for employees. Larger gift cards, or multiple cards from the same business, will be used to purchase a meal or treats for whole departments.

Not only does it solve two problems at once, but it perfectly dovetails with the Foundation’s overarching mission, according to Foundation Executive Director Nicole D. Suhre CFRE.

“The Foundation relies on the support of the business community for nearly everything we do,” Suhre said of the Sustaining St. Tammany program. “So many of our special events and different initiatives at the hospital rely on the generosity of our businesses. We were trying to think of a way to support them back for always being there for us, as well as obviously to support our colleagues, which is what our job is, what we’re here to do.”

Donors who are better positioned to offer direct food donations should contact Helen McNab in St. Tammany Health System’s Food Service Department at hmcnab@stph.org or (985) 898-4065 and follow these guidelines:

• Food must be prepared in a licensed and LDH-inspected facility.
• Food should be individually wrapped or packaged, as we are no longer using buffet service in the hospital. Pizza is an exception.
• Cold donations help us ensure time/temperature guidelines are met, but we can work with hot food as well.
• Where possible, please consider contributing healthy food choices.
• Please label the gift with instructions if needed. Include who is giving the gift, so we know who to recognize.
• Our hospital is in a restricted access environment, so donations must be delivered to the rear food service entrance. They can then be delivered within the hospital by food service staff.

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Visit STPH.org/COVID-19  for the latest information on coronavirus in St. Tammany Parish.