Mountain Home VA donates 10 tons of food for families

Employees at James H. Quillen VA collected more than 21,500 pounds of food as part of VA’s annual Feds Feed Families (FFF) Food Drive campaign, exceeding last year’s amount by more than one thousand pounds.

The campaign is part of a government-wide effort led by the Department of Agriculture with the support of VA’s Center for Development & Civic Engagement and other federal agency partners.

The FFF campaign works to help those in need of food. Employees of the federal government and their families help by volunteering their personal time or donating other in-kind contributions. This year’s drive highlighted the need for donations during the summer months to help support children who receive free and reduced-price meals during the school year but may have little access to food while school is not in session.

Food drive organizers Natalie Reedy and Jeremy Simerly led efforts across the medical facility. Reedy said every donation makes a difference and is an opportunity to give back to the community.

EMS top donation team… for the fifth consecutive year

Environmental Management Service (EMS) donated a total of 7,821.5 pounds of food for the drive, winning first place in the medical center’s annual internal competition for the fifth consecutive year.

Dean Borsos presents Environmental Management Service the Director’s Cup trophy

Timothy Palmer, EMS supervisor, spearheaded the service’s efforts, coordinating his traditional partnership with a local grocery store. Each year, Palmer coordinates collection and transportation of food from the store to the medical center’s weigh station and collection point.

Palmer hopes to continue the tradition, stating, “What is great with the competition is that every time we win, the other services want to beat EMS. That means more is given to the cause. To be able to help others, that is what it is all about.”

Mountain Home VA donated one-eighth of national total

This year’s competition saw many competitors. Social Work placed second in the competition, Director’s Suite placed third, and Prosthetics service placed fourth.

Nursing service received honorable mention for developing a creative approach this year that significantly increased their donation amount from last year. Inspired by “The Hunger Games,” they divided their service into groups labeled “Districts” to compete amongst themselves for their contribution.

Medical Center Director Dean B. Borsos presented EMS the Director’s Cup trophy for first place. He thanked employees for their participation, noting the total weight of the donation, adding, “Our donation was one-eighth of the national contribution. That is outstanding.”