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Results
Over the two weeks from September 19th to October 1st, 2005, Junior League of Atlanta volunteers provided food, drinks and thank you’s to at least 655 nurses and medical staff at Grady Health Systems. The nursing administration at the hospital wanted to show appreciation for their nurses’ hard work taking care of the additional patients at Grady from the Gulf Coast. The Nursing administration also wanted to welcome the nurses relocating to Atlanta from the Gulf region.
It was truly a whole-league effort to make this happen. Sondra Parham, a first year active, organized the effort with the help of Heather Harrison. Other volunteers to work 2-hr. shifts and bring food and drinks were Kristen Engle, Lucy Daigle, Victoria Christian, Christy Fassnacht, Suzanne Barrow, Leslie Fink, Lisa Lee Fogarty, Dawn McGreevey, Brooke Alexander, Lelia Schwab Pratt, Meridith Sorrentino, Kelli Lott, Juliet Purvis, Tiffany Ennis, Anne Goodrum, Bethany Hadelman, Leigh Strong, Ashley Goodrich, Becky Newkirk, and Alysia Lawrence. These volunteers represent a mix of actives and sustainers. We also had lots of members volunteer for weekend work which in the end we did not need. These women who expressesd a willingess to serve and deserve our thanks are Lindsay Parker, Kathryn Pickral, Julia Drake, Margaret Cantrell, Cherish Wilson, Joellen Meitl, and Catherine Gammon.
Provisionals brought food and drink items to Headquarters on the evenings when they had their meetings. Each night the GRADY box was packed! Thanks Provisionals and everyone else who donated.
Besides thanking nurses at the hospital downtown, Sondra and Lucy Daigle visited the satellite centers to extend thanks. They went to North DeKalb Health Center, Asa Yancey Health Center, and the East Point Community Health Center and were able to extend our thanks to over 50 additional nurses.
We conducted a Diaper and Formula drive: at least 800 diapers were delivered to Grady clinics around the metro area, along with over 100 cans of formula and other baby items.
Over $500 worth of gift cards were collected and distributed to social workers in the Grady Health System to purchase clothing and personal care items for evacuee families.
Led by Cara Fox, The Junior League of Atlanta organized a Marta token drive to benefit Dress for Success Atlanta.
The Nearly New Shop (under the leadership of Suzy Smith) offered discounts to customers who identified themselves as displaced hurricane victims.
Countless volunteer hours above and beyond their placement requirements were provided by the women in the Grady Health System and American Red Cross placements.
A generous contribution to the AJLI disaster relief fund was made by the 2005-2006 Council Vice Presidents to support the affected leagues.
Additional donations (at least 10 boxes) of shampoo, soap, children's toys, blankets, food and toiletries were collected at JLA headquarters and delivered to Grady Health System's social services workers managing hurricane evacuee cases.
In keeping with our promise that we would not forget those affected by the storms, we helped Grady with a Holiday Event. About 35 JLA members and friends/family volunteer throughout the day at the event. The kids got to see Santa Claus, eat pizza/cookies, listen to bands, go through a health education area with coloring books and end the day with JLA members distributing gifts to kids in need. Many were children that had actually been in the hospital after Katrina. Giving truly is the spirit of the season and it was evident at this event. You would never have guessed how big a smile that Candyland or Dora dolls put on these children’s faces. And JLA was right in the middle of it all! About 3000 children came throughout the day.
About 100 Provisional volunteered a Primary Care Fair on February 11th. The Primary Care Center is a new Grady service that grew out of the Katrina Call Center. It is designed to provide a more efficient and effective way to provide medical services to those in need. Essentially, to get them to connect with a single primary care provider as compared to using the emergency room. The Fair was designed to target those who were most likely to be using the facility. Our volunteers managed the children's area, providing oversight and manning activities for children while their parents learned about and signed up for the services.
Thanks to everyone who went out of their way to help those affected by the Hurricanes. Everything that was done was done in addition to their regular membership requirements. The speed with which the League was able to mobilize and provide trained volunteers is indicative of the depth of experience and the capabilities of the members of The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc.
I want to specifically recognize a few very special people without whom we could not have made such an impact:
- Erin Ouzts, who served as my primary sounding board for the response effort and spearheaded our collaboration with Grady.
- Sondra Parham who chaired the Nursing and Visiting Medical Staff Thank You Hospitality program.
- Jenn James who organized the Call Center and Resource Fulfillment (Grady never needed anything for any of this which made her job particularly thankless)
- Elaine Walsh & Catherine Gammon who organized the Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital Holiday Party at Turner Field.
- Elaine Walsh & Rebecca Godbey for organizing the Primary Care Fair.
- Lauren Clayton and Maria Baratta who helped early on with efforts to coordinate projects with Grady.
- The JLA Headquarters staff who coordinated our collection and delivery of donated items for Grady.
- Suzanne Rogers, Interim Director of the Henry W. Grady Foundation for working so hard to coordinate our interests with the needs of the Grady Health System.
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