7 / 16
7
It
took just 13 minutes from the
moment one woman first saw the
flames racing toward her home for
that home to be nothing but ashes.
That’s how quickly the Boles Fire
spread this past Sept. 15 in Weed,
California—just a fewmiles to the
northwest of Mt. Shasta.
Fanned by 45 mph winds in tinder-
dry conditions, the fire destroyed
157 homes. Seven of those homes
belonged to Mercy Medical Center
Mt. Shasta (MMCMS) employees,
including the woman who will
never forget what can be lost in a
mere 13 minutes.
More than 8 months pregnant at
the time, she fled the fire in her
car, along with her toddler. She
even managed to wake up her
sleeping sister two houses away—a
fellowMMCMS employee—whose
home also burned to the ground
in minutes. Miraculously, no lives
were lost in the fire.
Achain reactionof giving
Still, whole families were suddenly
without homes or any belongings.
“Almost immediately after the
fire, employees were approaching
me and asking, ‘How can I help?’”
recalls Alisa Johnson, Mercy Foun-
dation North Development Officer,
who is based at MMCMS.
The answer: The Foundation cre-
ated a special fund so employees at
any of Dignity Health’s 40 hospi-
tals and care centers could help
MMCMS employees affected by
the fire. So far, employees system-
wide have contributed more than
$102,000 to support co-workers
many have never met.
Dignity Health itself donated
$100,000 directly to the employee
fund—which aided nine families
altogether—and another $100,000
to the Red Cross to help all the
fire’s victims.
“To me this shows so plainly how
simple kindness is at the heart
of everything we do at Dignity
Health,” emphasizes Johnson.
“People took care of each other. Al-
though we couldn’t replace every-
thing that was lost, we could make
a terrible situation a little better.”
“The families we aided were so,
so grateful,” adds Sister Elaine
Stahl, RSM, Senior Director of
Mission Integration at MMCMS.
“It’s been a gift, really, to be able
to help them.”
To learn how you can help members of
the community who are in need, call Mercy
Foundation North at
530.247.3424
.
More than just words:
Thanks for your spirit of giving
Standing together
Dignity Health’s national campaign,
Hello humankindness
, encourages
all of us to commit acts of
kindness—and the campaign
was taken to heart at Mercy
Medical Center Mt. Shasta this fall.
Many employees gave generous
donations to help their fellow staff
members who were affected by the
Boles Fire. Shown here are some
of the affected employees and their
families thanking the ones who
helped them.
Dignity Health