Members of the Methodist Children’s Home “Staff on Standby” (SOS) team are helping prepare MCH students for their first day of school. The SOS program is a new initiative at MCH designed for employees who do not serve in direct childcare roles but want to support the residential childcare program.
“Through the SOS program, we can help alleviate some of the additional burdens placed on frontline staff and utilize employees to lend support for approved childcare projects outside their normal job roles,” said MCH President Trey Oakley. “The lessons we are learning during this COVID-19 pandemic, the needs of the agency and the desires of committed and loyal employees to support direct childcare will reap deep and meaningful benefits for those we serve, our staff and the MCH mission.”
As a way to encourage MCH students going back to school, members of the SOS program developed a plan to deliver goodie bags of school supplies to students attending the University of Texas—University Charter School located on the MCH Waco campus.
Rosemary Chavarria, plant services administrative assistant and member of the SOS program, came up with the idea after making goodie bags for her daughter’s first days of school.
Chavarria worked with Denise Ondrey, executive assistant to the president and coordinator of the SOS program, to fill dozens of bags with supplies such as notebooks, pens, snacks, and travel-sized bottles of hand sanitizer. Cards with handwritten inspirational messages and words of encouragement were also included. Once ready, additional SOS members joined and delivered the bags to each of the homes on the Waco campus.
In other activities supporting MCH, SOS team members delivered donuts to home parents as a way to thank them for their committed service during the COVID-19 crisis, sent cards and gifts on Father’s Day and Mother’s Day to MCH direct childcare workers who also care for their own children, and organized activities for residents of the Waco campus and Boys Ranch. To-date, SOS members have completed 19 projects in support of frontline staff operations that total 204 service hours.
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