The medical clinics in Winkler and Morden have a friendly competition going on, with an overall goal of supporting their communities.
The CW Wiebe Medical Centre is collecting non-perishable food and hygiene items to be donated to the Winkler and District Food Cupboard, while Menzies Medical Centre in Morden is doing the same for Many Hands Resource Centre, which oversees the food bank in Morden.
The staff wellness team in Winkler came up with the idea to start this collection to bring together not only their staff but the community as a whole to work towards a common goal.
“We were trying to find a way to have the community involved not just in the clinics but to bring us all together,” said Jessica Hammer, who is part of the wellness team at the CW Wiebe Medical Centre in Winkler.
“It’s hard to know or comprehend how many people out there need this kind of support,” she said. “So if we can help people have some good, healthier nutritious meals … otherwise they end up getting more sick and they just don’t get what they need.”
“The physicians and staff of CW Wiebe Medical Centre in Winkler and Menzies Medical Centre in Morden work collaboratively together to meet the health care needs of residents of the Winkler and Morden areas,” Karen-Denise Cyr, executive director of C.W. Wiebe Medical Centre, said in a statement. “So this fun and important food drive is just another way that we can work together and show our communities how much we care.”
“The staff were very on board to support this,” said Nicole Walske, executive director of Menzies Medical Centre. “Here we gave them the option to decide where our food would go, and they very quickly chose Many Hands to support the food insecurity situation in Morden, which we know is growing.”
“We can share kindness in small ways but know that it makes a difference … we were glad to participate in it.”
Although there’s a little bit of competition between the two clinics, the real winners are going to be the food programs in both communities.
“We are happy to work together with all organizations in our community and spread that love,” Walske said. “We want to be part of our community and support the growth and community wellness … if people aren’t eating properly, they’re not well, so it really ties in with full comprehensive care.
“It’s already been touching to see some of our patients bringing bags of food in to support the iniatitive, so it’s not only our staff contributing but also our community,” she noted. “It will be a fun day then to have Many Hands pick up as many boxes as we can provide them and try to help our community.”
The food drive ends on Friday, Dec. 13. People can bring donations of non-perishable food items to either clinic weekdays during their regular operating hours.
