Hospital Employees Donate School Supplies

Employees at Lake Wales Medical Center donated three carloads of backpacks and school supplies to help area children go back to school with all the tools they'll need for success.

Departments were challenged to use a Dr. Seuss theme to create a display of school supplies donated by employees. Community judges viewed each entry and selected the Laboratory as winner of the contest. Lab employees receive a pizza / ice cream party. The hospital also gave a $100 gift card to an employee drawn randomly from among all those who donated items to the drive. Chris Jessee from Rehabilitative Services was the winner.

"The real winners are the children of our community, who are getting a chance to return to school with all the supplies they need to ensure a successful start to the school year," said Maryemma Bachelder, Director of Community Relations at the hospital. "We support our local schools all year long, and are happy to be able to support local school supplies drives. We were excited to partner this year with the Start Right campaign to get these supplies out into the community to the children who need them."

The supplies were donated to the Start Right campaign, sponsored by the Polk State College Foundation and spearheaded by Andy Oguntola at Polk State's JD Alexander Campus in Lake Wales. According to Oguntola, the backpacks and supplies will be given away beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, August 3, at the campus on Central Avenue in downtown Lake Wales.

Lake Wales Medical Center, a 160-bed facility, has been serving the community since 1929. This year the hospital opened an expanded Wound Healing Center and a new adult behavioral health unit, to complement the existing geriatric behavioral health unit. More than 50 primary care physicians and specialists are on the hospital's active staff.