This week we celebrate Thanksgiving, a time when we can slow down and reconnect with family and friends. Many also mark this week as the kickoff to the holiday season. Some will have their homes decorated by the end of the long weekend, while others will hit the stores in hope of beating the holiday rush.
On Saturday I participated in our town’s annual Holiday Parade with the volunteer organization that I belong to, Quota International of Plantation Inc. The mission of the organization is encapsulated in the words, We Share. Each Club around the world works with its members on various service projects to meet the needs of the hard of hearing and of disadvantaged women and children. The holiday parade was a fun way for our Club to support our community and to let them know who we are. We had a great time walking in the parade and giving warm wishes to the residents who lined Broward Blvd. It was especially fun to see the look on the children’s faces when they saw Quota the Bear — their eyes lit up and they began jumping up and down hoping the bear would wave to them and throw them a few pieces of candy.
I love this time of the year, not only because the weather is finally cool here in sunny South Florida, but it’s a time when we can give back to those who are in need. When I worked in the ED, I felt that I gave back to each patient I met. Since leaving the ED, there has been a loss of that feeling and the connection I felt with those people. Quota has filled that need and opened up a new way for me to give back. One of the projects that we work on that provides a little joy for those in need is a collaborative project with Florida Educators of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals to identify families in the Plantation area who have fallen on hard times. The families are contacted and agree to provide the names and ages of the family members and a wish list of what they would like for Christmas. Each member of our Club will pick a family member and purchase gifts for him or her. The gifts are wrapped and the packages delivered to each family the week before Christmas. We also give the family a gift certificate to Publix (our local grocery store) so they can buy food for their holiday meal. We all enjoy this project and feel that it is a gift in itself when we see the gratitude on the faces of each member of the family when we arrive at their homes with gifts in tow.
This week our Webmaster has added a new feature to Across My Desk — a comments feature that will enable us to interact as a community in real-time. If you have an experience that moved you about “giving back” or “giving thanks in your own life,” take a few minutes to share your thoughts with your fellow readers of Across My Desk. To take part, all you have to do is register for CMRG.com. If you have already registered, all you have to do is log in! Once done, you will be able to leave your comment and view the comments of your colleagues on the topic of Giving Thanks. This is a new system, so please let our Webmaster know if you have any issues or concerns.
On behalf of all of us at Dorland Healthcare Information, we would like to say thank you for all that you do and wish you and your families a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
See you next week,
Anne Llewellyn, RN-BC, MS, BHSA, CCM, CRRN
Editor-in-Chief of Across My Desk, Case in Point magazine, and the Case Management Resource Guide
allewellyn@dorlandhealth.com
