Sharing talent and treasure

In addition to sharing their talent to serve the Sanford Health system, more than 1,200 employees provide financial support to the Sanford Health Foundation. In 2011, these employee donors will provide nearly $400,000 to help strengthen programs, make a difference to patients and support their colleagues in crisis. We are grateful for their generous and caring hearts.

Who do employees help with their financial gifts? People like Val. See below to read her story.

To become a donor, click here or call 605-328-5700

Hi.  My name is May Schaefer and I have been a Sanford Employee for 28 years.

As a nurse, I’ve always been able to support our family, and even manage to tuck a little away in savings for a rainy day.  Little did I know that our rainy day would come on October 30, 2010, when I fell causing severe damage to my right arm.  I couldn’t move it at all. The injury required surgery and an extensive course of physical therapy.  I wasn’t able to work for seven months.

Our savings dwindled quickly, and I was in a panic; I feared we’d lose our home.

HR suggested I request assistance from the Employee Crisis Fund and so, with hope and a prayer, I did.  I was thrilled when I got the phone call that my request had been granted.  The Employee Crisis Fund helped us pay heat and utility bills for two months.  It was just enough to help us get by.

Everybody needs a helping hand now and then.  People shouldn’t be afraid to ask.  Sanford has grown into a very large organization, but we still have that family atmosphere and help each other out.  I don’t know where we would have been without the Employee Crisis Fund.  I so appreciate working in a place where my fellow employees take care of each other. Thank you to all of you who give faithfully to support this fund and help employees like me! 

If everyone gives, even if it’s just a little bit each pay period, you can make a difference in the lives of so many.  You may never hear what happens with your donation, but I can assure you it makes a difference.

Recipients of the Sanford Employee Crisis Fund will be the first to admit that accepting help is humbling. But when my son, Jamie, went to his routine checkup which resulted in the immediate need for a fourth heart surgery, I was grateful I had somewhere to turn.

I’m a single mother of two and a Sanford employee of 30 years. My co-workers are like family to me, and I know as long as I’m a Sanford employee, I’ll always have people to lean on in a place that encourages people to take care of each other.

Jamie’s last heart surgery took place in August, 2009, in Minneapolis. When I was told of Jamie’s dire condition, I had no money to make the trip or cover a motel room. Jamie would have to stay in the hospital for more than two weeks, which meant I’d have to take time off from work and make arrangements for my daughter, Candace, to stay in Sioux Falls.

I submitted my request for help to the Employee Crisis Committee right away and when I found out I was a recipient, I felt like a ton of bricks was lifted off my chest. The money I received from the Fund enabled me to stay by Jamie’s bed side and paid for gas, motel room and groceries for Candace and me.

My thanks are hard to put in to words, but if it wasn’t for the Employee Crisis Fund, my kids and I may have been put out in the street. Instead, we were able to pay the mortgage. Sanford is a good place. It’s a really good place.

I hope to encourage Sanford employees not currently contributing to the Employee Crisis Fund to do so. As a donor myself, I can tell you the rewards are great. Knowing the money is going to fellow employees, and that it can help in so many different ways, is a wonderful feeling.

Why do employees become donors?
See below to learn first-hand from employees like Corey and Janet.

Name: Corey Holm

Position: Videoconferencing Coordinator, Center for Learning and Innovation

Years on the job: 6

Years as an employee donor: 5

Area supported: Sanford Children’s Fund

Why do you give: It brings a feeling of fulfillment knowing that the little amount that is taken out through payroll deduction means so much in the big picture. For me, it’s an honor to be a part of the big solution when it comes to the patients at Sanford Children’s.