Turkey dinner giveaway tradition provides
County Dialysis patients a holiday meal
PRESQUE ISLE — Each year, patients of TAMC’s County Dialysis Center receive a box complete with a turkey dinner and all the trimmings thanks to the generosity of TAMC employees, donors and the legacy of a former dialysis patient who passed away three years ago.
Photo courtesy of TAMC
STAFF FROM TAMC’S County Dialysis, along with individuals from Country Farms Market, had the satisfaction of providing the fixings for a complete Thanksgiving Day meal to all of the patients, and their families, served by the center. Among those taking part in this annual tradition were, from left: County Dialysis technicians Kristina McEwen and Chelsea Adams, Bridgette DuPont, RN; Pam Frank, RN, manager of County Dialysis; Florence LaFrance, a patient who received one of the meals; Laverne Bubar, technician; Lorena Sullivan, nephrology assistant; Mark Kelley, owner of Country Farms Market in Easton and Washburn; and Mike Gallagher, general manager of the CFM stores.
Providing a traditional meal to their extended family is exactly what inspires the staff at County Dialysis to ensure the turkey basket project, first introduced in 2002, continues year after year. Patients who utilize the critical services offered by County Dialysis require life-sustaining treatment three times a week. Some travel considerable distances for this treatment.
“We have a special relationship with our patients, since we see them several times a week, usually for a period of years,” said Pamela Frank, manager of County Dialysis Center. “Our patients face a lot of daily challenges with dietary restrictions and financial burdens related to their health. Many turn to the local food pantries to help feed themselves and their families. We are privileged to be able to know these individuals, and this is one small way we can make their lives a little easier.”
That sentiment of closeness between patients and staff is also echoed from dialysis patient Florence LaFrance. The Presque Isle native has been receiving treatment for the past seven years.
“I don’t have any family who live locally, and the staff here are like a second family to me. It takes a special person to come in here and take care of us,” said LaFrance.
She may not have a big family to cook for, but LaFrance puts the food she receives from the Thanksgiving Give-Away to good use. She spends the day with several friends, making sure they all have a nice meal over the holiday, as well.
The Thanksgiving Give-Away project is made possible through the generosity of TAMC employees and community donors. Funds are raised for the turkey baskets by TAMC team members who donate money and get to dress in more casual attire on the last Friday of September. Similar “dress casual” Fridays happen monthly for various other worthwhile causes.
The families of 41 patients who are currently receiving dialysis received baskets for Thanksgiving. Each basket contained a complete meal, including the turkey, potatoes, stuffing, vegetables, rolls and even a pie.
Among the community donors supporting the cause is Mark Kelley of Country Farms Market in Easton and Washburn. Kelley provides the baskets, stuffed with more than $30 worth of holiday food, at his cost. He and Mike Gallagher, general manager for the stores, made several trips to the County Dialysis Center at TAMC’s North Street Healthcare in Presque Isle in the days leading up to Thanksgiving to deliver the frozen turkeys and boxes filled with trimmings to employees, who in turn hand them out to patients.
The store Kelley and his wife own in Easton has provided the groceries since the very first year of the project. It was a long-time employee of the store, Monica Cilley of Easton, herself a patient at County Dialysis, who worked alongside staff at the center to start up the project and sustain it every year until she passed away three years ago.
“This is a great project,” said Kelley. “It makes you feel good to give back to the community and to help brighten the holidays for those who need a little lift. It is especially meaningful to us to carry forward this tradition that meant so much to a valued employee who is still helping others through her legacy in the form of this project.”
In the years since Cilley and the staff at County Dialysis started the turkey basket project, more than 551 complete holiday meals have been given to County families with loved ones undergoing dialysis treatment.
TAMC’s County Dialysis Center is the only one of its kind north of Bangor. Patients utilizing the facility have received over 86,805 treatments since it opened its doors in 1997.
