NorthBay Santas Bring Cheer to Local Schools
December 30, 2009
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| Rose Kennedy, senior director, Revenue Cycle, carries in a box of goodies to a Fairview Elementary kindergarten class in Fairfield. |
Santa Claus waited patiently in the hallway of Fairview Elementary School in Fairfield Dec. 18, while Megan Hanson's kindergarten class in Room 6 grew more and more excited.
Then, on cue, Santa made his grand entrance, to cheers and applause.
It was all part of NorthBay Healthcare's Adopt-a-Class Project, in which employees and departments volunteer to bring a little holiday cheer to students at two local, low-income schools.
This year, every classroom at Fairview Elementary in Fairfield and Padan Elementary in Vacaville - 62 in all - were recipients of NorthBay's holiday generosity. Parties occurred between Dec. 16 and 18 at both campuses.
According to Executive Assistant Sylvia Spanos, 47 individuals or departments stepped forward to adopt individual classrooms. The remainder - 15 - were sponsored by NorthBay's corporate office, with Sylvia and Executive Assistant Debbie Hooks, the head elves and coordinators of the project. They spent hours shopping, wrapping, organizing and delivering the goods.
"It's so amazing how much they bring," said Ms. Hanson, whose classroom donned paper Santa caps for the party.
"These kids are always so grateful," said Rose Kennedy, senior director, Revenue Cycle. Kennedy and her colleagues, Jennifer Baylor and Trina Sayas, provided homemade cupcakes, cookies and individually wrapped toys.
"They even brought the music," exclaimed an enthusiastic Ms. Hanson.
The entire classroom benefited, too, as Kennedy's crew also brought a gift-wrapped box filled with books, paper, glue sticks, markers and homework folders.
NorthBay's Information Technology department adopted a fifth-grade class at Padan and a kindergarten class at Fairview. They also helped deliver parties to several other classrooms.
"We had a blast again this year," reported Janice Colomb, senior systems analyst, "and we got back so much more than we delivered." She and co-workers Vangie Alire, Ron Boris, Mike Jacomino, Jason Pierce and Coshyon Osifalujo handed out goodies and gifts that garnered a round of applause from students and staff.
"The students and teachers were so happy for everything we brought - they even cheered for a gallon-sized jar of hand sanitizer!" Colomb added. They also gave the class dry erase boards for each student, two huge boxes of Legos and an immense tub of Lincoln Logs
"I'm proud of our staff for stepping up and making a difference during the holiday season for students at these schools," said Gary Passama, President/CEO of NorthBay Healthcare. "They do a tremendous job."
