Collins Veterans Home Serving Lunch

On Thursday, May 25, a team from the Employee Support Center took a trip down Highway 49 to visit our strategic partners at the Mississippi State Veterans Home in Collins, Mississippi.

Our group was comprised of Mark Buckley, the VP of Clinical Operations, his newly-hired assistant, Nikki Ward, Karen Cole, Director of Human Resources, Shelly Aaron, our Mid South recruiter, Clinton Mayes, Director of IT, Charlean Williams, Director of H.I.M. and Compliance, and Lee Catherine Collins, Associate of Graphic Design, Marketing, and Social Media.

After a quick drive to Collins, we arrived just after the residents of the home had been served the meal we provided from a local favorite, Main Street Cafe. Although we would have been glad to serve the residents, the home’s staff is required to handle residents’ food before they consume it. Many of the residents have trouble with chewing or swallowing for various reasons, so we thought it best to let them do as they are trained. However, our team was able to serve another important group of our partners - the staff at the home.

Our team donned hair nets and plastic gloves and quickly formed an assembly line behind the counter in the kitchen that regularly serves the residents. A line formed, snaking outside the door of the kitchen and into the dining area. One by one, the men and women who so selflessly care for our veterans were served their choice of a hamburger or hotdog. Clinton and Mark meticulously dressed burgers and dogs with lettuce, tomato, relish, and other delicious additions. The assembly line was very effective, and the line of hungry staff soon was satisfied.

We were excited to have a few hours to visit with some of our Mid South staff like Christina Clark, Marie Cole, Brittany Gardner, Felicia Murrah, Brittany Scott, Diane Stringer, and our South Mississippi RCD, Karen Leflore.

After serving and visiting as long as we could, we loaded back into our vehicles and headed back to work, wondering all the while if we should stop for a Smith County watermelon on the side of the road. Overall, the trip to Collins was a fun one that we all agreed we wanted to make more often.