Shop ‘Til You Drop
Seven lucky Blue Ridge HealthCare employees sweep through Food Lion

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BY ANNA WILSON
BLUE RIDGE HEALTHCARE

MORGANTON - Three thousand dollars in groceries is A LOT of groceries. Just ask Southmountain Children’s Home - recipients of Blue Ridge HealthCare’s latest “Supermarket Sweep.”

The twice-a-year sweep is just one of several employee satisfaction efforts by BRHC as part of the hospital system’s Journey to Excellence. Employees noticed for practicing BRHC’s service standards can receive a WOW! Scratch card from their directors or managers. Employees then scratch off the coating to reveal a prize ranging from free food at participating area restaurants to a therapeutic massage at Phifer Wellness Center to the grand prize, a four-minute dash through the aisles at Food Lion.

Toni Reece, a Supermarket Sweep winner who works at Phifer Wellness Center, said she immediately thought of the foster families at Southmountain and how free groceries would help. Southmountain is a foster care community near Lake James where children who have been taken from their homes because of abuse - physical and/or sexual - find a safe place to live. Reece teaches water safety classes at Southmountain as part of her volunteer work with the American Red Cross.

She found out that cottage parents at Southmountain travel to Charlotte once a month to buy food at a food bank. At the spree, she decided to focus her efforts on buying meats and items that kids love to eat.

In the end, she racked up $3,189 worth of groceries as Southmountain representatives Jim Murray and Lynn Allen watched with smiles on their faces. It took Allen’s dually truck (and double cab) and Murray’s van loaded almost to overflowing to carry all the groceries.

“I think they were overwhelmed by the amount,” Reece said. “They were very appreciative and it was a lot of fun helping them out.”

“We are so grateful and we appreciate everything that Blue Ridge HealthCare and Toni have done,” Allen said.

Currently, Southmountain is serving 43 boys and girls ages 8 to 17. “We have children who have been removed from their homes either temporarily or permanently due to abuse or neglect,” Allen said. “We are set up as therapeutic foster homes. We have seven family cottages and one group home.”

Children placed at Southmountain get counseling if needed, but most of all, they are safe.

“We give them a safe place to live,” Allen said. “It’s a great neighborhood setting where they can live and grow and play in a safe environment. Hopefully, we can prepare them for their future.”

As time was called on Reece’s four-minute supermarket dash, several fellow care team members from BRHC added extra items to her carts after the buzzer, until seven fully loaded buggies awaited checkout.

“This is outstanding,” said Waits Gordon, Food Lion general manager. “It’s like the Saturday before Christmas for us. We’ve enjoyed this. It’s a lot of fun.”

Friday’s supermarket sweep marks the third time Blue Ridge HealthCare employees have stormed a grocery store.

In addition to Reece, six other Blue Ridge care team members earned a shopping spree. They are Deanne Causby, Rita Pope, Gloria Chester, Amber Starnes, Yvonne Yelton and Johnie Morrison.

These seven employees - with two helpers each - had four minutes to “sweep” through Food Lion, grabbing as many items as they could. The only items off limits were gift cards, tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, and cases of products or food items stored in or behind counters. Bypassing the fresh fruits and vegetables, these “sweepers” made straight for the meat department before heading on to grab other things. With shouts of encouragement from family, friends and co-workers, the spree winners made their way throughout the store before arriving breathless at the front to see their groceries tallied.

ANNA WILSON is a writer and graphic artist in Blue Ridge HealthCare’s Marketing and Public Relations Department.

The second largest employer in Burke County, Blue Ridge HealthCare serves a four-county area and includes Grace and Valdese hospitals, Blue Ridge Home HealthCare, Grace Heights and College Pines Health & Rehabilitation Centers, Grace Ridge Retirement Community, Phifer Wellness Center and a number of physician practices.