VNS Health Team Members Put Our Mission in Action Through Acts of Service in the Community

The spirit of generosity and camaraderie is alive and well at VNS Health this holiday season, as team members from around the organization put our mission into action through acts of service in the community.

Check out these recent examples below—and be sure to let us know if you have an act of service that you would like featured as well.

Marketing and Development Teams Prepare Food for God’s Love We Deliver

On December 14th, 33 members of the Marketing and Development teams reported bright and early for kitchen prep duty at the Manhattan headquarters of God’s Love We Deliver, which cooks and home-delivers nutritious, medically tailored meals for people too sick to shop or cook for themselves. Together, the teams worked tirelessly to help prepare 13,000 meals, including more than 4,000 beef patties, 14,000 chicken drumsticks, and pounds of pasta, quinoa and cookies!

Catherine Callaway, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Development, noted that God’s Love We Deliver and VNS Health have similar missions—to help those who are homebound. In fact, VNS Health social workers often refer their clients to God’s Love We Deliver, so between the two organizations there’s significant overlap in the people served.

“We really wanted to do something that was about giving back, and we are grateful to participate in a way that we don’t always get to since we’re desk-based,” said Catherine. “Everyone agreed that it felt great to give back to the community and to the people that our frontline teams serve.”

Human Resources Toy Drive Benefits Nurse Family Partnership Program

On December 13th, the Human Resources team hosted a toy drive to benefit the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program, which supports first-time mothers and their children from pregnancy through the child’s second birthday. The toy drive, which took place during the team’s holiday celebration, resulted in six full boxes of learning toys for the NFP program donated by 70 participants!

“Everyone was so happy to give back, and we had a terrific response,” reported Maryann Marsic, Executive Assistant, Human Resources. “People were reaching out the whole week and were very enthusiastic about giving.”

It was the first year for the toy drive, which was facilitated by Angela Courtenay, Associate Vice President, Health Services and the HR holiday party committee.

OUT@VNS Health and TransAction Host Holiday Initiatives to Give Back to the Community

Beginning on Giving Tuesday and running through the end of the year, TransAction and OUT@VNS Health are donating to a pair of organizations that directly impact LGBTQIA+ youth. The first is Transanta, a mutual aid project that connects anonymous gift-givers with trans youth who are unhoused, in foster care, or otherwise without crucial support they need to thrive. The second is The Door, whose mission is to empower young people to reach their potential by providing comprehensive youth development services in a diverse and caring environment. Anyone interested in contributing or learning additional information about either group can do so by visiting www.door.org and www.transanta.com. 

In addition to their fundraising efforts, OUT@VNS Health has hosted card-making events to support God’s Love We Deliver, so that every meal delivered by the organization also includes a handmade card. Three card drives have been held since the fall, and roughly 200 cards have been delivered!

“It’s a really nice way to bond as a team and to feel connected to the LGBTQ+ community, the elderly, people who are homebound, and other organizations who serve them,” said Alison Bartolone, Associate Vice President, Strategy Performance, and Innovation. “We started with one event, and people kept asking us to do more. So we’ve turned it into a perennial opportunity to give back.” If you are interested in hearing about the next card-making event at 220 East 42nd Street, please contact Ali at [email protected]. For more information on how to do volunteer card-making at home, click here.

Hand-Knit Sweaters Donated to Nurse-Family Partnership

For the last six years, Liliane Rothstein, Marketing Specialist with the Enterprise Communications team, has made a very special delivery to the Nurse-Family Partnership program: hand-knit baby and toddler sweaters made by her sister, Simone Waksberg. Every year, Liliane picks up the sweaters during her Thanksgiving visit with Simone, who lives in Florida, and brings them back to VNS Health in time for the holidays.

“My sister loves to knit—it’s her main form of recreation. So being able to deliver these sweaters to the Nurse-Family Partnership program is wonderful for her and for the families receiving them,” said Liliiane. 

Do you have an act of service that you would like featured in this piece? Please let us know by clicking here.