Michaela Kanoski, director of volunteer and guest services for CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy in Omaha, Nebraska, adds flourishes to a display of food arranged into a holiday living room scene in 2022. The food is collected
by employees and donated to Siena Francis House, a shelter in Omaha.It's common for a hospital to host a canned food drive around the holidays. It might not be so common to build an elaborate display out of the donated goods for everyone to enjoy.
For the past several years at CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy in Omaha, Nebraska, goods collected in an employee drive get turned into a festive creation: a steam train, a fireplace mantel flanked with Christmas trees, a moving
truck, a giant snowflake, even a boxing ring with hospital administrator photos superimposed over cutouts of boxers and referees.
Donated foods were turned into a train during the 2021 drive. Employees donated 6,600 pounds of food and donated $25,000 that year.The elaborate displays, in the hallway of the hospital pavilion, are created to engage employees and highlight the annual Feed the Need effort. The food drive benefits Siena Francis House, a shelter and service agency for people without homes in Omaha.
During a ceremony hosted in front of the display a few days before Christmas, the hospital presents the food and a check to Siena Francis House. Last year, the hospital presented food
and other goods worth $36,000 and a check for $25,000. The drive's organizers strive to give more each year, especially as food costs rise.
More than 52,000 pounds of food and goods were collected for Siena Francis House in 2019, and boxes they came in were arranged to make a snowflake. The medical staff also donated $15,000 to support the shelter."It's really one of the biggest drives each year, and we definitely count on them to be able to support (us) in that way, because we can plan," says Silvia Rodriguez, the associate director of development for Siena Francis House, which served more than
380,000 meals in its emergency shelter last year.
The organization never knows what the hospital's grocery displays will look like until its representatives show up to receive the donation. "They really get very creative," she says. "I always wonder what they're going to make each year."
A tradition of giving
This is the 21st year for the drive, a tradition the hospital inherited from the old Creighton University Medical Center, which in 2017 merged with CHI Health Bergan Mercy Medical Center to create the current
hospital. The hospital is part of CommonSpirit Health.
Organizers are unsure when the elaborate displays started. The designs have delighted employees and visitors for at least eight years, when Erin Santiago started overseeing the effort.
This Santa's workshop scene was created in 2017, the year the old Creighton University Medical Center merged with CHI Health Bergan Mercy Medical Center to create the current hospital. The food drive, now in its 21st year, was a tradition started
at the university hospital.Santiago, the director of pharmacy for CHI Health, says she often doesn't know until the last minute what the display will look like.
"Honestly, I'm kind of a last-minute person," she says. "It's nice to see what food rolls in. And then you get ideas based on the shape of the food."
If the display builders get several giant cans of green beans, for example, they can build a tree out of them. They've stacked and lined up boxes of paper goods and wrapped them in white tablecloths, which they did one year to create the giant snowflake.
They've laid out long, tall containers of spices and potato chips to make railroad tracks for the train. They've wrapped ribbon around stacks of cylindrical, red containers of coffee to create candy cane columns.
Staff at the hospital donated 5,000 pounds of food that was transformed into a living room scene in 2022. They also donated a $27,500 check as well as the Christmas trees used in the display to Siena Francis House.Last year's "All Are Welcome" theme included a long table that represented holiday traditions across diverse cultures.
"That reflected on CommonSpirit's values of inclusion and diversity and taking care of all of our patients," says Santiago.
While Santiago leads the effort, others pitch in. Some departments host fundraisers like donut or T-shirt sales. The volunteer and guest services department loans decorations from its gift shop. The maintenance department lends plywood and labor to help
make a base for a structure. Others help count and keep track of the food as it is donated or shop for specific food needed by the Siena Francis House.
When it's over, Creighton University Moving Services has stepped up to transport the pallets of food.
That moment is a little bittersweet for Santiago.
"It's like, wow, this took you guys a half hour to take apart. It took us three days to assemble," she says. "But you're like, OK, it's going where it needs to go."