Wiley Team Members Deliver Cheer to Frontline Healthcare Workers Across the US & Canada!

In December 2020, Cheeriodicals partnered with Wiley Education Services for a Virtual Team Building Event for Wiley team members across the US & Canada. For more than 200 years Wiley has been helping people and organizations develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. Wiley develops digital education, learning, assessment, and certification solutions to help universities, businesses, and individuals move between education and employment, and achieve their goals.

During Wiley’s 2020 illuminating the Path Virtual Sales Conference, 141 Wiley team members assembled Hospital Heroes care packages for frontline healthcare workers during a Cheeriodicals virtual event. Although they had to meet virtually, Wiley did not let that stop them from their annual giveback event. The three hospitals that received the generous donations were St. Mary’s General Hospital in Hoboken, New Jersey; Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent in Indianapolis, Indiana; and Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, Ontario.

In the beginning planning stages, Wiley’s focus was on having an event that would give back to their community. Wiley is headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, and St. Mary’s Hospital was their top pick to receive hospital heroes bags. When contacting St. Mary’s, it was mentioned that donations were abundant in the spring and summer, however, there had recently been a decline in hospital donations. With COVID-19 cases rising, and frontline healthcare staff working overtime, this donation from Wiley couldn’t have come at a better time! 

With Wiley offices in Toronto and employees scattered across Canada as well, it was important to also make an impact in their Canadian community. One hospital that stood out to receive hospital heroes bags was Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Holland Bloorview is not a standard children’s hospital. They see children with very complex medical and disability challenges. Extreme care is taken to ensure these children do not get sick, as many are required to go to the hospital for weekly or monthly treatments. Frontline staff at Holland Bloorview strive every day to maintain a healthy environment to ensure the safety of every patient. This added pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic made their healthcare heroes a top pick to receive our Hospital Heroes comfort bags. 

Including a majority of Wiley team members in the Indianapolis area, a third hospital was chosen as a recipient of hospital heroes bags. Having worked previously with Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent, it was an easy decision to choose their hospital. Partnering with the Child Life staff, the Cheeriodicals comfort bags were a needed boost of encouragement to hardworking healthcare workers across the hospital. Like most major cities, Indianapolis has seen an increase in COVID cases. Chelsea Hayward, Certified Child Life Specialist, commented “We really appreciate this generous donation! It is so thoughtful of all of you during the holiday season with the ongoing pandemic. Thank you!”  

With 2020 being such an unpredictable year, the Cheeriodicals / Wiley partnership was a perfect match! Since the onset of COVID-19 in early March of this year, Cheeriodicals has transitioned to virtual events, but the impact has remained the same: to utilize our mission of ‘team building that matters’ to deliver cheer! We are proud to share that over the last nine months, Cheeriodicals has, in conjunction with its corporate clients, delivered more than 3,000 Hospital Heroes bags to support those on the front lines of the pandemic. It’s an honor and a privilege to continue to encourage those who are serving us so faithfully.

This feedback from an employee at Wiley who participated (with his family) in the Cheeriodicals virtual team building event tells the story beautifully:

“Thank you for this great event! It meant so much to do this together as a family and my children learned a great lesson about showing appreciation to our first responders. Thank you!” – David, Wiley Participant