The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holland and Holland Noon Rotary Combine Efforts to Bring Joy to Pediatric Patients at Spectrum Health Zeeland Community Hospital

ZEELAND, Mich., December 15, 2015 – The giving season is amongst us and The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holland, in partnership with the Holland Noon Rotary Club, selected Spectrum Health Zeeland Community Hospital to be the recipient of their generous donation. Kids from all ages and grades in the West Ottawa School District participated in events that collected toys and raised funds to purchase over 200 new toys for the Zeeland Community Hospital and Holland Hospital to distribute to pediatric patients.

“The project started out as a mission to teach students about the importance of philanthropy and giving,” said Theenda Yarbrough, aka “Miss Cookie”, elementary activity assistant, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holland and an active Rotarian. “The kids really ran with the idea of donating to the local hospitals and they worked very hard to earn these funds.”

The Boys and Girls Club strives to help youth become responsible, caring citizens and to develop leadership skills and provide opportunities for planning, decision-making and contributing to the community. Their work also extends to encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle.

“Zeeland Community Hospital seemed like the perfect recipient of these toys because of the impact that the hospital has on maintaining the health and safety of the children in the community,” added Miss Cookie.

The students raised $214 by selling hot chocolate, pop and popcorn. The Holland Noon Rotary Club, prompted by their dedication to address community service projects, supported their efforts and matched that amount. These donations allowed the students and Holland Rotarians shopping opportunities to purchase toy items for patients.

“The most important part of the process was seeing the satisfaction of the students when they shopped for the toys that their donations were able to purchase,” said Denise Nestel, membership chair, Holland Noon Rotary Club. “The toy drive and fundraising efforts for children in Holland and Zeeland hospitals was the first joint Boys & Girls Club and Rotary project, but, speaking on behalf of Rotary, we hope that it will be the first of many joint projects with the Boys and Girls Club!”

Students were able to exercise their gifts and talents to create the graphics for the mural where the toys were donated. This project also encouraged family participation.

Students, along with Miss Cookie, delivered the gifts to Zeeland Community Hospital on Tuesday, December 1. “The excitement radiated from these kids,” said Rachel Spek, nursing manager, medical, surgical and pediatrics, Zeeland Community Hospital, whom accepted the donations. “It will be so wonderful to have these toys to comfort our pediatric patients while they are in our care.”

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system, based in West Michigan, offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of 12 hospitals, including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital; 183 ambulatory and service sites; more than 3,400 physicians and advanced practice providers, including nearly 1,400 members of the Spectrum Health Medical Group; and Priority Health, a health plan with about 658,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer, with 23,800 employees. The organization provided $283 million in community benefit during its 2015 fiscal year. Spectrum Health is the only health system in Michigan to be named one of the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems® by Truven Health Analytics for 2015. This is the fourth time the organization has received this recognition.