St. Francis Hospital employees’ gift program helps 83 local families

INDIANAPOLIS – While one song hails the holidays as the “most wonderful time of the year,” for many families it’s a time of struggle.

That’s what continues to drive the Gift-a-Family program, coordinated by the Mission Integration Committee and Service Excellence Department at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers. The annual program serves residents primarily on the city’s south side.

St. Francis employees and their respective departments adopted families earlier and began collected new clothing, small household items and children’s toys and gifts.

“Each year we identify families who have been referred to us, and while they have different backgrounds they all share a common denominator – they’re needy and often in desperate situations,” said Shirley Fox, chair of St. Francis’ Mission Integration Committee. “And in the spirit of St. Francis, our employees step forward with generosity and compassionate concern to help them.”

St. Francis employees assisted 83 families this year.

Employees of Alverno Information Services, a division of the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services located on the hospital’s Beech Grove campus, also provided the families with food baskets.

“Alverno employees have been strong partners and supporters of this program,” Fox said. “They conducted contests and fundraisers to purchase the food. Each basket contained more than $80 worth of food items and toiletries.”

The food baskets were blessed on Dec. 17 by St. Francis clergy and were delivered along with the gifts to families.