Emergency Department at SMH donates to Heifer Project

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HEIFER PROJECT DONATION - From left, Judi Gallant, Administrative Assistant and Mary Johnson RN, leaders of the Heifer Project fundraiser in the Stephens Memorial Hospital Emergency Room, pose with the catalog.

NORWAY — The staff in the Emergency Department at Stephens Memorial Hospital recently raised $265 to support the International Heifer Project. Heifer International is a global nonprofit with a proven solution to ending hunger and poverty in a sustainable way. Heifer helps empower millions of families to lift them out of poverty and hunger to self-reliance through gifts of livestock, seeds and trees and extensive training, which provide a multiplying source of food and income.

Mary Johnson, RN, led the team in getting excited about this Christmas Charity project. With the $265 donation, Mary explains, they have purchased a goat, a pig, and a flock of chickens to send to a community in need. Once in the community, a teaching program is provided to the individuals living there to help them learn how to take care of the animals. A breeding program is then instituted to create sustainable food.

The donation, in part, came from funds that the Emergency Department staff won for the hospital’s departmental wreath decorating contest.

Nurse Director of Emergency Services, Darlene Glover, RN, MSN states, "I am once again overwhelmed by the generosity of the ER staff, not only during the holidays, but all year long."

Stephens Memorial Hospital is a member of MaineHealth. Visit Western Maine Health on the Internet at www.wmhcc.org.