CommonSpirit Health volunteers partner with YMCA to pack meals for children
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Employees from CommonSpirit Health spent part of their Sunday giving back to the community by partnering with the YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga to pack meals for local children.
More than 50 volunteers gathered to assemble over 1,300 meals, working together along an assembly line to help support families across the Chattanooga area.
“The best wraps you’re going to find in the state of Tennessee,” joked volunteer Nicole Brown as she proudly held up one of the packaged tacos.
Brown said the event was a meaningful way for employees to support both their partners at the YMCA and the community they serve.
“This is a good feeling for us to give back to our partners with the YMCA and our community,” Brown said. “It means so much to us. We’re happy to be here on a Sunday, even with the time change, because we’re feeding people in our community. That’s what’s important.”
Another volunteer, Herman Wilhelm, said the event reflects CommonSpirit Health’s commitment to caring for people beyond the walls of the hospital.
“The biggest reason why we’re here is to show that human kindness lives here and it lives here in our community,” Wilhelm explained.
Wilhelm said while the CommonSpirit name may be newer in the Chattanooga area, the organization’s mission and people remain the same.
“CommonSpirit might be a new name in our community, but we have the same employees and the same doctors,” Wilhelm said. “Human kindness not only lives within our hospital walls, it lives outside of those hospital walls. That’s what we’re doing here today. We’re showing human kindness to our community, and we’re going to continue doing that moving forward.”
News 12 also spoke with the chief executive officer of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga, Baron Herdelin-Doherty, about the organization’s mission and the importance of partnerships like this one.
“We’re here helping people in their spirit, their mind, and their body,” Herdelin-Doherty said. “The Y’s mission is to do that through our principles of being here for all people.”
He explained that the YMCA offers a wide range of programs designed to support community members in different stages of life.
“If we know people who need meals, we have a program that can deliver meals and food to them,” Herdelin-Doherty said. “If we know middle school students who need mentoring, we have our YCAP program that provides that. If someone wants to work on their health, learn to swim, or needs after school care, the YMCA’s mission is to provide those opportunities and enrich their spirit, their mind, and their body.”
Organizers say partnerships like this help ensure more families in the Chattanooga area have access to the support and resources they need.
