Throughout the year, employees at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania volunteer their time to help members of local communities but the outreach always reaches new levels around the holidays, making the season more joyful for those less fortunate.
Poppy Bass of Information Services got an early start. Fighting hunger is her passion so last month she ran a food drive in her department for Philabundance, a non-profit food bank that serves the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley. She divided the department into five teams and, as people’s competitive nature kicked in, food donations grew. By the time the three-week food drive ended, IS employees had contributed nearly 4,400 food items -– more than 2,700 pounds! “It brought me to tears … such a generous group,” she said. “Look how many people this will benefit. It was a lot of fun for a great cause.”
HUP’s Holly Days program has kicked off as well. As part of this annual tradition, departments throughout the hospital “adopt” families from two local shelters which help women and children in transition. They buy toys, clothing, toiletries, and other items, fulfilling as much of the family’s wish list as possible. In 2012, nearly 40 families had a happier holiday because of employee generosity. Holly Days also raised over $3,000 for Covenant House, a crisis center in Philadelphia, which provides a 
continuum of services for homeless and runaway youth.
Individual areas in the hospital did their own thing as well. HUP’s Nursing Network Center delivered a truck filled for toys to the People’s Emergency Center and 30 moms at St. Barnabas Mission have warmer nights thanks to a pajama drive in one of the units.
Outreach isn’t only for the “outside” community. Knowing how hard it is for patients to be in the hospital during the holidays, HUP’s staff go out of their way to bring the holiday spirit into patient care units. For the past 20 years, the Abrahamsohn Christmas & Easter Committee has sponsored a tree decorating contest. Each unit picks a theme and not only decorates an artificial tree (provided by the Committee) but the entire patient unit as well. This friendly competition –- five units are chosen to receive a $150 prize -– has grown over the years, with themes and decorations becoming more and more creative.
One of last year’s winners chose a camping theme, with decorations that included glittery pine cones, pipe cleaner figures, and a very realistic camp fire. The unit donated their winnings to Camp Achieve, an overnight summer camp for children and teens with a seizure disorder. Another winner partnered with the Delaware County SPCA to help increase adoptions. The staff decorated the tree with homemade ornaments, each having a photo of a cat or dog from the SPCA, along with information about the animal, and also collected donations of food, toys and treats for the shelter’s cats and dogs. Thanks to their outreach effort, two animals received their “forever” homes.