News : Hospital donates to school supply drive

Molly Noren receives donation from Virginia Gay's Mike Timmermans

Virginia Gay Hospital donated $500 to the community effort providing school supplies to children in need. Virginia Gay’s donation was added to donations the Vinton Shellsburg School District has received from the churches represented by the Vinton Ministerial Association, Clickstop, and Monkeytown.

Mike Timmermans, Virginia Gay Hospital Foundation Director, and a current member of the Vinton Shellsburg Community School District's Board of Education, presented the check for $500 to Molly Noren. Molly has a new role with the School District as Student Services Coordinator.

“This year's school supply donation drive has been a great community effort between our schools, our churches, Monkeytown, Clickstop Cares and several local businesses”, according to Molly. “We started with the "Stuff the Bus" event at the Vinton Cruise and we've had collection boxes at Fareway, Dollar General, Vinton Unlimited, Virginia Gay Hospital, Farmers Savings Bank, Windsor Manor, the library, and at Tootsies. It has been really neat to see the whole community come together to help with this effort.”

“Virginia Gay works hard to contribute to the community in many ways,” said Mike. “Since the founding of Virginia Gay Hospital in 1923, we’ve relied on donations from the community to improve our facilities and services. In turn, we often contribute to various efforts to improve the communities we serve because our goal is the well-being of the whole person, not just the absence of illness,” Mike explained.

Families in need of assistance with supplies are asked to register in advance. Registrations and transportation requests are accepted online by clicking here, or by contacting Molly Noren, VSCSD Student Services Coordinator at 319-436-5867.

Transportation to Clickstop Cares in Urbana is available and can be requested with on the online form.

In addition to school supplies, clothing and other items are also available at the Clickstop Cares location at 2535 Bing Miller Lane in Urbana, located on the south side of Highway 150 in the same industrial park as the East Central Iowa REC.

Clickstop Cares will be open for school supply distribution on the following dates:

August 6th from 5:00-7:00

August 7th from 9:00-11:00

August 11th from 1:00-3:00

August 12th from 5:00-7:00

August 19th from 5:00-7:00

Mary Jo Hainstock, Vinton Shellsburg School Superintendent, explained the importance of the effort saying, “Many families face financial challenges and the donations will alleviate some of these challenges and while helping their students be prepared for their first day back at school on August 24th. We don’t want any child feeling left out on the very first day because they don’t have their own supplies.”

Mary Jo also shared how important School/Community partnerships have become in recent years. “In this effort Molly, Sandy Hamilton, and Jim Murray have worked hard on behalf of the school, our local churches have contributed, and Nicole Guenther (Clickstop) and Lu Karr (Monkeytown) have put in a lot of time, effort, and financial support. The school couldn’t do this alone, and I think that’s a big lesson all around. The school needs to partner with the community because it really takes everyone’s contribution to create a vibrant, effective educational environment.”

In addition to the school supply drive, recent donations by Virginia Gay Hospital or staff members include support of the Friends of The Shelter with a shoe drive, Party-In-The-Park, Reach Out and Read, as well as facilitating community fund raising through Party In Pink, the Murphy Memorial Golf Tournament, and the upcoming the Flaughless 5K in support of Wounded Warriors.

Donations to Virginia Gay programs can be made on the Virginia Gay Hospital Foundation website by clicking here. To learn about planned giving to support health care in our communities, contact Mike Timmermans at 319-472-6375 or by email at mtimmermans@vghinc.com.