09/25/2007
(HARTFORD, Conn.) The Womens Auxiliary of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center today marked the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by donating non-perishable food and cash that exceeded its nine-week, eleven-ton goal.
In total, donated food items and cash contributions netted the equivalent of nearly 37 tons of food. Donations totaled over $11,200, and collected food added another 3 tons to the effort.
This drive was undertaken in conjunction with My Good Deed, a national volunteer organization that is seeking to turn Sept. 11 into a national day of service,� said Joan Holobinko, the Auxiliarys President. Were seeking to build on the spirit of giving, service and compassion that followed the terrorist attacks in 2001.�
Todays ceremony in the Rotunda of Saint Francis Patient Care Tower featured the Talented Teens, an inspirational song and dance group made up of students from
Hartfords Lewis Fox Middle School, who write and choreograph their own numbers promoting positive values for themselves and other teenagers.
The featured speaker was Gene Bruyette, principal of Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, a brokerage investment firm that lost 67 employees in the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy in lower Manhattan.
The food items and cash contributions will be donated to the Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center Emergency Food Bank. The food bank, the only hospital-based food bank in the U.S., was established in 1977. It now distributes 82 tons of food every year and is the third largest food bank in the Greater Hartford area.
We serve 650 families a month who otherwise would have to choose between eating or taking their medications,� said Joan Dauber, R.D., the dietician who founded the food bank and continues to direct its activities.
We started 30 years ago with just a small closet at the former Mount Sinai Hospital and served about 25 patients a month from the obstetrical clinic who needed nutritional support,� she said. Weve grown to the point where many senior citizens and cancer patients depend on us for food. These donations will go a long way in helping them.�
Founded in 1897, Saint Francis is a major teaching hospital licensed for 617 acute inpatient beds and 65 bassinets and is the largest Catholic hospital in New England.
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