A Flurry of Donations Totaling More Than $11,300,  Good Samaritans Help Those in Need at Christmas

KEARNEY - Project Snowflake, CHI Health Good Samaritan’s annual employee giving drive, has been collecting donations to help those in need during the Christmas season for more than thirty years. This year, in light of rising local food insecurities, the hospital staff increased their giving goal and, for the first time, asked the community to join. 

The expanded efforts to gather food, personal care items, gifts and monetary contributions launched last month. Thursday, seven local non-profit organizations visited the hospital to a staggering blizzard of donations gathered on their behalf. 

Hospital staff coordinated an incredible effort, gathering more than $11,300  in both monetary and physical gifts. This total builds upon the early food drive of AirCare and Care Management teams, in partnership with Apollo Medflight, who gathered donations to assemble 120 Thanksgiving “meals in a bag” for local food pantries.

“Our team members are caregivers in every sense of the word,” said Kimber Bonner, vice president, patient care services. “Project Snowflake is one of the many ways that they reach out to others, and this year they were able to address the needs of our friends and neighbors in a really amazing way.”

Through Project Snowflake, hospital employees had the option to give to the SAFE Center, Salvation Army, Jubilee Center, Crossroads Mission, Goodfellows, Family Advocacy Network and HelpCare Clinic. Donations of clothing, personal items and transportation fees were also collected for patients in need at the hospital, in addition to monetary donations for co-workers suffering a loss. Project Snowflake collection boxes were also placed at the entrances of Good Samaritan hospital and its clinic this year, inviting the public to donate non-perishable food items.