Sandstone Society delivers 30 sheet pizzas to healthcare workers in Medina
Provided photos: From left, Rob Klino and Dave Miller, members of the Medina Sandstone Society, help Theresa Nottingham from Mark’s Pizzeria unload pizzas which the Sandstone Society donated to staff at Medina Memorial Hospital.
From left, Dave Miller, president of the Medina Sandstone Society, and Avanti’s employee Carrie Ribbeck present sheet pizzas to Martin MacKenzie, administrator of Orchard Manor, and Mary Luckman, director of marketing.
MEDINA – Since the Medina Sandstone Society founded its Sandstone Trust in 2010, they have been able to provide financial aid to members of the Medina community, but with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Society has redirected the focus of its giving.
“In March, we were gearing up to have our annual meeting to discuss the recipient of our John Ryan Scholarship and the year of events to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Sandstone Trust ,” said Sandstone Society President Dave Miller. “Then the pandemic hit and we were forced to cancel everything. The board then started to discuss via e-mail if there was something we could do now for the community.”
“Our society’s mission is to promote community pride and what we wanted was a way to do that now,” Miller said.
What they decided to do was to send pizzas to all the health care workers in Medina. This included staff at Medina Memorial Hospital, Applegate, Orchard Manor Nursing Home and the Willows.
On Thursday, Avanti’s delivered pizzas to Orchard Manor and the Willows, while Mark’s Pizzeria made deliveries to the hospital and Applegate.
The donation of 30 sheet pizzas fed a combined 200 staff members in the four facilities.
At the nursing home, administrator Martin MacKenzie and director of marketing Mary Luckman were very thankful for the donation.
“This is quite a gesture for staff to show up here every day,” Luckman said. “A lot of them are putting in double shifts.”
The nursing home employs 100 health care workers, maintenance people and administration.
At the hospital, Heather Miles, and X-ray technician, took delivery of the pizzas there.
“We can’t thank all the people who have donated enough,” she said.
A second pizza delivery was made to facilities to accommodate those on the night shift.
The Sandstone Society maintains a gift shop on its website, and has also added an icon which allows people to make a $25 donation, which the Sandstone Society will then give it to organizations which help those in need during the pandemic, such as food pantries. The icon is called “Support Your Community During Covid-19.”
