Herculaneum Amvets Ladies Auxiliary members snapped into action when they heard Festus Manor employees have been staying at a local hotel when they’re not on duty caring for residents at the nursing center where there’s been a COVID-19 outbreak.
Auxiliary members collected enough donations to provide the employees with four truckloads of food and $1,600 in cash and gift cards, and on April 25, they delivered the donations to the Holiday Inn in Festus, where the employees have been staying.
“Each displaced worker got a food basket and a gift card/cash,” said Sharon Walker, the Auxiliary’s second vice president. “The nursing home is getting $500 in gift cards for those on duty at the nursing home. The gift cards are from local restaurants that donated them.”
A health care worker herself, Walker said she got the ball rolling for the fundraising campaign and others were quick to help.
“As well as being with the Auxiliary, I’m a pediatric home health ventilator nurse,” she said. “I heard the story about Festus Manor having so many cases of COVID-19. I thought we should do something for the employees. I contacted my Ladies Auxiliary group and shared this on the internet. People have come and given hundreds of dollars, gift cards or food. In about three hours, we got about four truckloads worth of food.
“One of our Post 42 veterans, Todd Smith, got restaurants to pledge to provide meals. Mercy Home Health and Hospice nurses donated an entire SUV full of groceries and personal-care supplies and handed us over $700 they’d collected themselves.”
Walker said the donated food included canned meals, fresh fruit, snacks, bottled water and other drinks, chips and candy.
“We collected activities for them, as well – playing cards, adult coloring books, crossword puzzles, Sudoku books,” she said.
Jeanne Dirschuweit, Festus Manor administrator, said the nursing home employees appreciated the donation.
"We are so grateful to American Veterans Center 42 for their generous donation of food and gift cards for our staff currently staying at the Holiday Inn, Dirschuweit said. “The generosity, kindness and compassion we’ve experienced from our Festus community is unmatched. We are truly fortunate."
Debra Boyer, the Post 42 Ladies Auxiliary president, said her group is always working to help the community.
“This is something we do all year round,” Boyer said. “We raise money for charitable causes.”
