COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Employees, physicians and volunteers at Maury Regional Medical Center (MRMC) provided a little holiday cheer yet again for local schoolchildren this year with the annual Holiday Hugs gift program.
Since 1999, MRMC has worked with Maury County Public Schools (MCPS) to provide more than 10,000 gifts to children in need. This year, a record 818 children received a gift from the program.
“We are truly blessed to have the annual MRMC Holiday Hugs program in Maury County,” MCPS Superintendent Lisa Ventura said. “Words cannot express our gratitude for helping support our MCPS families.”
Holiday Hugs started in 1999 as Christmas Steps and provided shoes to 354 area children. The program transformed in 2001 into Holiday Hugs and expanded to gifting coats, sweaters and other winter clothing.
Each year, the MRMC Volunteer Services Department works with MCPS to identify children in need at the district’s elementary and middle schools and their clothing sizes. MRMC team members select names and purchase their gifts, which are collected in December by Volunteer Services, organized and delivered to each school with the help of the MRMC Supply Chain and Facility Services departments.
“We are always grateful to be able to give back to our community and help local children in need,” said Cindy Short, director of volunteer services at MRMC. “Giving is the reason for the season, and our Maury Regional team does an exceptional job of giving for Holiday Hugs each year. It truly is a team effort to make all of this work, and we couldn’t do it without our volunteers and our Supply Chain and Facility Services departments. Thank you to everyone who participated and provided 818 children in our community with new winter clothes this year.”
Holiday Hugs is just one of the many holiday campaigns across the Maury Regional Health (MRH) system.
Lewis Health Center (LHC) also hosts an annual Holiday Hugs program, and this year provided warm clothing for 49 students in the Lewis County School System.
Marshall Medical Center (MMC) employees are collecting gifts until Dec. 19 for local residents at NHC Oakwood and NHC Lewisburg through the annual Angel Tree program. The annual nonperishable food drive for the Hopetown food bank is also underway until Dec. 19, and the MMC Lab recently collected gift cards and other gifts to benefit foster children in Marshall County.
Wayne Medical Center (WMC) employees celebrated Christmas early with a raffle fundraiser in October and a movie night. They raised more than $1,500 to support local families this holiday season.
“We appreciate the opportunity to serve our communities every holiday season, and our team really goes above and beyond,” said MRH CEO Martin Chaney, MD. “It’s a heartwarming feeling to be able to provide for those in our communities who truly need it. We want to wish everyone a very happy and safe holiday.”
