Staff members in the Department of Medicine recently donated 200 snack bags to express their gratitude for their colleagues in Campus Facility Services (CFS), who continue to report to campus to keep things running while most members of the campus community work from home.
The idea for the donation came up during one of the staff’s twice-weekly “wellness check-ins,” during which the staff chat and decompress via Zoom, said Bridget Working, Associate Director of Academic Administration.
(right) Bridget Working’s children assisting with the goodie bag drop-off
“We decided that we wanted to recognize the ‘unsung heroes’ from CFS that are on the front lines playing a critical role by keeping campus operational,” she said.
The initial suggestion was made by Neelam Chand, Executive Director for Faculty Affairs.
“Neelam and I volunteered to organize the effort and collect money, and other attendees on the call shared the idea with their divisional colleagues” so they could participate, said Working.
(left) Bridget Working dropping off snacks for CFS employees.
(center) One of Neelam Chand’s daughters assembling goodie bags for CFS staff.
(right) Josh Miller of CFS receives the first round of donations from the Dept. of Medicine staff.
With the funds donated by Department of Medicine staff, Working and Chand purchased granola bars, jerky, cookies, trail mix, candy, apples, water bottles, chips, snack crackers, and rice krispy treats for the bags, and then enlisted their respective family members to help with bag assembly.
Ultimately, they dropped off two rounds of 100 goodie bags each with Josh Miller, Assistant Director for Facility Programs and Landscape Services, who said they have been a hit with the CFS staff.
“It has been a joy for our supervisory group to distribute the bags to our staff all over campus, who are working to maintain and clean the buildings and keep the grounds in great shape,” said Miller. “Many of our staff are working 10- to 12-hour shifts to provide the necessary coverage our campus needs, so a pick-me-up like this has been so appreciated.”
