Core & Main leadership made a personal delivery to Veteran patients at the Charleston, SC VA Medical Center in 2022.

 

Hospitalized Veterans Face Difficult Challenges

Let’s face it. Spending long periods of time in a hospital can be difficult for anyone, but it can be especially challenging when you are a Veteran.  

Veterans often have multiple healthcare challenges when they are hospitalized, especially when many Veterans are of advanced age and are living with injuries from their time in the service. It’s not unusual for a Veteran to seek medical care for acute issues, pneumonia, gout, injured hips/knees, etc., and then find that they have underlying chronic issues of equal or greater importance like diabetes, cancer or even heart disease. For this and myriad other reasons, Veterans often find that their hospital admission for one thing leads to more discoveries and longer hospital stays.

Not only do Veterans face these difficult and complex healthcare challenges, they deal with a great deal of loneliness and isolation with their hospital stays. Unlike children and many individuals who are patients at non-military hospitals, Veterans may not have as many family members in their area or may even be living alone. As a result, many Veterans spend a lot of their hospitalization alone in an empty room in between visits by their medical staff.  Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic made this loneliness even worse because the Veterans were completely isolated from any family or friend visits to their hospital rooms.  Thankfully, the pandemic constraints have been loosened somewhat, but the scare of the pandemic has had an effect by reducing overall hospital visitation.

 

A Veteran reads a handwritten note of gratitude for his service. These notecards, as well as many other items inside our Cheeriodicals care bags, bring much needed joy to hospitalized Veterans during their hospital stay.

These are just two of the reasons why Veterans face difficult challenges among many others when they are hospitalized, but what if there was a way to bring a dose of cheer to these Veteran heroes? 

Cheeriodicals is a team building company that specializes in helping corporate teams give back to local communities, and in this case, to local Veterans hospitals across the nation. 

Our Cheeriodicals kits for hospitalized Veterans are designed to bring a human touch through their hospital stay, bringing both joy and happiness to Veterans and ultimately brightening the day of everyone around them as well.

 

The Cheeriodicals Kit – Hospitalized Veterans

The Cheeriodicals kit for Hospitalized Veterans includes various patriotic themed comfort and care items that help bring joy and entertainment during their hospital stay.

Our Veterans Cheeriodicals duffle bags have contents inside to bring comfort and joy during their hospital stay!   

These bright green duffle bags are packed full with activities, adult coloring books, puzzles, games, and much more, all designed to provide positive distractions and hours of entertainment. The duffle bags are also packed with items that Veterans can use while in the hospital and when they are discharged including a fleece blanket, a beverage tumbler and convenience items like toothpaste, toothbrushes, chapstick, etc.

Our Veterans Cheeriodicals can be adapted to benefit specific Veteran groups including: homeless Veterans, female Veterans, outpatient Veterans, or even Veterans undergoing dialysis or cancer treatments.  That’s because our team works with Center for Development and Civic Engagement staff at Veterans hospitals all across the nation to perfect the items that go inside each Cheeriodical, making sure every item is not only appropriate and needed, but also meet the requirements and guidelines for Veterans hospitals.  We do all the preparation and research for you, so your team can just focus on having fun and making an impact! 

These kits can also be donated to Veteran patients, in-patient or outpatient, at Veterans facilities nationwide, or even to Fisher House facilities which house the families of hospitalized Veterans.

There are endless ways to brighten the day of a Veteran in the hospital with Cheeriodicals!

 

The Impact for Patients

Cheeriodicals bring both comfort and joy to hospitalized Veterans during their treatments and stay.

 

Cheeriodicals has a collaboration with VA facilities across the nation – and the impact is immeasurable.  Not only do they bring joy and comfort to Veterans, but the family members and friends become moved by the kindness of these duffle bags as well.  Time and again we receive messages from family members of the Veterans, thanking everyone from the bottom of their hearts for bringing so much joy to their Veteran loved one during a difficult and stressful time.

 

More than 700 SiteOne Landscaping employees presenting their completed Cheeriodicals for Veterans in Las Vegas in January 2023.

 

Earlier this year we invited the Director of Center for Development and Civic Engagement, Robert Johson, from the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare, to be our guest speaker to a Cheeriodicals team building event with SiteOne Landscaping. Robert spoke to this team of more than 700 participants to update them on the impact their team was making by personally packing hundreds of Cheeriodicals for Veterans in Las Vegas.

Robert focused on his experience seeing Veterans over the years receive and open the Cheeriodicals, witnessing their appreciation of not just the gift delivery, but sometimes even more the personal time spent with Veterans.  He noted that Veterans are so appreciative of their duffle bags and how often it may be the only gift they receive while being hospitalized.  He also noted how much the Veterans comment on the fact that companies and their employees care so much to deliver the Cheeriodicals in person, room by room.

 

The Impact for Your Team

All smiles!  SiteOne coworkers are having fun while working together to pack Cheeriodicals duffle bags for hospitalized Veterans.

 

Bringing your company together to make an impact in the community can be one of the most rewarding experiences you can plan for your team.  

Not only do team building events encourage communication and new employee relationships, but when you give back to the community in a meaningful way it also strengthens corporate culture and creates memories for your employees that will last for years to come. 

Studies show that corporate employees tend to feel proud of the company they are working for when it has a strong philanthropic culture. Our events help companies fulfill their CSR (corporate social responsibility) while simultaneously allowing employees the opportunity to be hands on and give back. 

Our events bond co-workers over a positive experience, creating a lasting impact on attendees long after the event has ended.

 

Cheeriodicals:  How Our Team Building Events Work

Left: Members of the Hologic team came together for a photo after packing hundreds of Cheeriodicals for hospitalized Veterans.  Right:  Gary Parisher, Cheeriodicals President and a Thermo Fisher participant who happens to have the perfect color match.

 

Our Cheeriodicals givebacks are designed in a way that your corporate team can be the heroes of the day for hospitalized Veterans.

In fact, your team will be the ones to pack the care duffle bags and make the impact.  Cheeriodicals leads your team through the assembly of the kits and handles all the behind the scene details, so your team can focus on fun and giving back!

Our Cheeriodicals team building events include:

• An exciting, hour-long assembly event
• Kit Supplies
• Assembly Instructions
• Inspirational Presentation
• Guest Speakers from benefiting charity or hospital
• Event Photos
• Onsite Cheeriodicals Event Manager
• Option to attend the hospital donation delivery
• And more!

 

Leading up to the event day, Cheeriodicals works closely with your corporate team to help plan all of the exciting event details, including how to choose the local Veterans hospital or facility that will be the best fit for your donation.  We handle all of the behind the scenes logistics, such as delivery details, care bag contents and supplies, and even transportation of the donation as well. 

Watch this highlight video from our recent event with SiteOne and see the magic of our events for yourself! 

Not only do our events impact the community, they are highly rewarding for your team too and create a bonding experience and memories that will last for years to come.

 

Curious About Cheeriodicals?

We conduct corporate events for teams of 20 – 1,500+ attendees across the United States and Canada. Contact corporateplanner@cheeriodicals.com to see how we can help your corporate team make a difference for hospitalized Veterans near you!

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