BTHC staff celebrated as Pay it Forward May continues

Editor’s note:

Previously, the article indicated funds from the staff 50/50 were used to pay, in part, for the staff gifts. However, that information was incorrect. The BTHC Foundation has issued the following clarification:

“As we were expressing our sincere thanks and appreciation to the staff at BTHC we made the error in communication on how the gifts were purchased. We didn’t use/spend the funds for these staff gifts out of Staff 5050 account as the original article stated. These gifts were purchased with the support from Olympic Source for Sports using general funds. Proceeds from the staff 5050 remain dedicated to support for equipment and programs. This was not articulated very well and that is on the Foundation, we sincerely apologize for the error and any confusion this may have caused."

Pay it Forward May continues in Winkler and Morden, and what better time to say thanks than now? That from Shannon Samatte-Folkett, executive director for the Boundary Trails Health Centre Foundation, which hosted a staff appreciation event at the hospital on Thursday.

"(We) wanted to express our gratitude and thanks, and let the staff know that we see them, and we hear them," she said. 

From the Foundation, each staff member was given a Yeti insulated cup engraved with the BTHC logo.

Representatives from the Winkler Community Foundation joined in the occasion. Executive director, Myra Peters, said it's important to show appreciation.

"We know that every little encouragement makes a difference in someone's day, and we don't know how that's going to impact them, but we hope that they continue to pay it forward to someone else and show kindness in some small way."

Ching-Faux, Myra Peters and Samatte-Folkett.

Allison Braun, Chair of the Morden Area Foundation, also swung by to pay her respects to the staff and drop off a Peace Lily. 

"We hope that they all find a little peace and joy in every day that they are here to serve our community," she said. 

Braun hopes everyone who crosses their path, thanks them for what they do.

"It doesn't matter whether your job is to keep the floors clean or whether you're a doctor in surgery or anybody in-between, they're all so important to our area," she explained. "I think it's important to show appreciation whenever we can. I think that they're a large group of people that are not appreciated as much as they should be, unless they save your life and then I guess everybody's like 'woohoo!'. I think from a day-to-day standpoint, they work really hard and they're not appreciated as much as they should."

Pay it Forward May continues until the end of the month.

Written with files from Robyn Wiebe