On Wednesday, May 9, CARSTAR Maryville of Maryville, Ill., provided food for all 500 staff at Anderson Hospital while also supporting local restaurant businesses.
“We wanted to try and do something for Nurses Appreciation Week, and once we started investigating ways to give back, we heard that the night shift often gets overlooked in initiatives similar to this,” said Kurt Mueller, owner of CARSTAR Maryville. “Our goal became clear afterwards: we wanted to provide a meal for every staff member, on every shift at Anderson Hospital – because they are all making sacrifices for our collective well-being.”
Mueller decided to purchase meals from three locally owned restaurants that are fellow Chamber of Commerce members. Boogies was the first restaurant, providing 250 first-shift employees with pasta and garlic bread. Alfonzo’s Restaurant provided pizza and salad for the 150 people on the second shift.
“The night shift was the trickiest to coordinate, because for the others, the cafeteria is open and could serve out the free meals,” said Mueller. “Conway’s Catering was able to help us with the night shift, where they created boxed meals that staff could simply hand out, ensuring this crucial group was not overlooked.”
Sweet Grandma’s Silly Creations also donated 100 individually wrapped frosted sugar cookies with “Thank You” written on them, and CARSTAR Maryville bought the other 400 cookies to ensure each Anderson Hospital employee received a sweet treat. Employees also received a coupon for each restaurant good through the end of the year.
“I know how hard the staff works at Anderson Hospital as my mother had her fare share of visits and she was always taken care of incredibly well,” Mueller said. “As a local business owner, I see it as part of my responsibility to give back to the community we serve, so we just had to make this happen.”
Hosting a car wash to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, sponsoring little league teams all over the city, raising over $120,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation over 10 years and raising funds for Kelsie’s Hope Foundation are some other initiatives CARSTAR Maryville has engaged in over the years to give back.
