Union County Hospital collects more than 1,500 items in food drive

The Christmas holiday season can be a very difficult time of year for many people.  

The cost of buying food is sometimes expensive and adds to the pressure of buying gifts for others.

With those concerns in mind, Union County Hospital in Anna recently hosted a food drive to benefit area families during the Christmas holiday season break. 

“We decided to make it a challenge because who doesn’t love a little competition?” said Monica Schramm, marketing director at Union County Hospital.  

Each hospital department was given an empty box and asked to fill it with as many non-perishable food items as they could fit into the box.  

The response was overwhelming, Schramm said. Every department within the hospital participated and a final count revealed a total of 1,586 items were collected.  

Judging criteria focused on quantity of items collected, with the hospital’s admitting department being the clear winner of the challenge.       

Due to the tremendously positive response by employees, the hospital was able to assemble gallon-sized gift bags to be delivered to area schools.

The gift bags were delivered to Lincoln Elementary School in Anna, Jonesboro Elementary School, Cobden Elementary School, Shawnee Elementary School in Wolf Lake, Lick Creek School and Dongola Elementary School.  

The remainder of food was delivered to Bethany Village in Anna to help feed area families.