HR Management Raises Food for Underserved

When Charlene Wilson, MPA, executive director of Human Resource Services at Loma Linda University Shared Services, toured the Social Action Community Health System (SACHS) Clinic in San Bernardino, what she saw touched her heart. Wilson started wondering how her department might help SACHS meet the needs of the underserved. The clinic, an outreach of Loma Linda University (LLU), provides primary medical, dental and behavioral health services to individuals of limited means, many of whom have no health insurance. Wilson began to explore ideas in the context of the LLU mission to continue the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus Christ and to formulate a plan that would not only help the individuals and families who depend on the clinic, but would also benefit the members of the human resource team. Her idea was simple: she would create a contest in her department using healthy competition to stimulate individuals to collect food for the clinic. This would enable the employees to engage in helping SACHS, while fostering principals of teamwork, organizational values and department unity; all while underscoring the concept of serving others in the name of Jesus Christ. When she presented the concept at a staff meeting, Wilson’s proposal met with excitement and apprehension, but after talking it over, the employees approved the concept, divided into six teams, elected leaders and chose team names. To promote a sense of spirited collegiality, Wilson announced a prize for the team with the most creative name and another one for the team that collected the most goods for the needy. The team names reflected the excitement generated by the project and the desire to get involved in reaching out to others: “Servants for SACHS,” “Team Pro Bono,” “USS (Us Simple Servants),” “Food for Thoughtfulness,” “The Cheerful Givers,” and “HUGS (Helping Unify by Giving Service).” Food and hygiene items began pouring in. Team members worked hard to outpace each other in finding creative ways to collect supplies for SACHS. As the excitement and engagement built, Wilson announced a department luncheon, admission to which would be contingent on bringing three canned food items for SACHS. When the day finally arrived, Mark Hubbard, senior vice president for Human Resource Services, announced that the team with the most creative team name had been selected. The room fell to hushed silence as he reported that the Cheerful Givers had won the coveted title. That left just one issue to resolve but Wilson said it would have to wait until the teams gathered in front of the LLUAHSC 101 building to tally up the total and see which team brought in the most food for the SACHS Clinic. By the time the teams finished loading their bounteous harvest of canned goods and supplies in front of the building, the boxes almost completely obscured the windows. Wilson called for a count. When it was completed, she announced that a total of 98 boxes had been collected. Now the burning question was which team had collected the most food for SACHS. After the numbers were handed to her, Wilson announced the winner. “The winning team,” she said, “brought in a total of 26 boxes of food and supplies.” To their excitement and the consternation of the five other teams, the Cheerful Givers learned that they had once again won the prize. To show that they were good sports and demonstrate that the real purpose of the friendly rivalry was to gather food to help the poor of the community, members of the other teams joined Wilson and the Cheerful Givers for a group photo in front of the stacks of boxes. Moments later, they all pitched in to load the collected goods onto three trucks and haul them to SACHS. When the human relations management envoy arrived at SACHS, Nancy Young, SACHS executive director, and several members of her staff came out to thank the generous team members in person. Wilson had told Young the group was coming over but she hadn’t told her how much to expect. Wilson reports that when Young and her team saw three trucks pull up and unload 98 large boxes of food items for the underserved, they choked up with gratitude and joy. Wilson notes that in that moment, the importance of service came full circle for members of the human resource management team. It reminded her of a statement from William George Jordan in The Crown of Individuality: “wealth could not buy the very things the world hungers for most — love, kindness, calmness, inspiration, peace, trust, truth and justice. The greatest give the individual can give the world is — personal service.” When asked about the project outcome, Wilson explained that, “All of us have issues but somehow, when we start giving back to mankind, our own problems don’t seem so great.” She believes that her department is a department of service. “I wanted to instill in them the philosophy and importance of being servants to all those around us by being servant leaders and cheerful givers,” she concluded.