As Camp Phoebe came to a close and the new school season approached, the Pastoral Care department at Phoebe Allentown decided to host a School Supply Drive to help students and families in need, including Phoebe employees.
Organized by Chaplain Chera Wertz, the drive saw campus-wide donations from residents and staff to help families experiencing financial hardship.
The Culture Team at Phoebe Allentown is always looking for new ways to give back to employees, and Wetz’s idea proved to be a successful one.
“We had an awesome response from everyone who donated,” says Wertz.
Among the donated items were pencils, erasers, crayons, glue, colored pencils, pens, index cards, highlighters, folders, pencil boxes, notebooks, and more.
30 backpacks were donated and filled with supplies. A total of 18 employees directly benefited from the drive.
Employees could fill out a secret form if they needed support from the drive. Then, they were assigned a number and could confidentially pick up their backpack corresponding to their number when visiting the Pastoral Care office.
“We keep the identities confidential,” says Wertz, understanding that asking for help is not always easy.
The excess donations were split up and delivered to Roberto Clemente Charter School and Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter School, where they will be given to the students who need it most.
“It was a very successful first time we’ve done this,” says Wertz. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to support our youth and employees. It’s not as easy [in the world] for everyone as we think it is. I’d like to do this again next year.”
Phoebe Ministries would like to thank those who donated and Shera Wertz for her leadership in this amazing project. Wertz exemplifies our culture’s best characteristics.
To learn more about Pastoral Care, please visit 5d5b62807b.nxcli.io/spiritual-support/.
Written by Dominic Trabosci