March 16, 2022 | Blog, Employment
Celebrating Our Staff for Their Commitment to Seniors
The month of October is always a special time as we celebrate the anniversary of Wesbury’s founding in 1918 with our Annual Senior Tribute Banquet and Fundraising Event. Each year, we come together at this event to honor and celebrate the extraordinary endeavors of our friends and neighbors who do great things for seniors in our communities. Although we could not gather together due to the pandemic, we still chose to honor some extraordinary people who more than deserve recognition for their commitment to serving seniors. For 2021, we decided there was no group more worthy of receiving this tribute than the entire Wesbury staff!
This year, instead of holding a Senior Tribute Banquet, we celebrated “Tribute Week” from October 10th through October 16th to pay tribute to the staff for their commitment to the seniors living on our campus and around the region. To help in expressing our gratitude, we reached out to Wesbury residents to share with us how they feel about the staff who serve them in so many capacities.
Their wonderful remarks ranged from “You reach out to lift others who are struggling” and “We are grateful for your warm compassion and cool competence” to “selfless,” “caring,” “conscientious,” and “kind.” Most importantly, they recognized Wesbury staff for staying on their jobs when no one wanted to work, and for facing the fears and challenges of working in healthcare during a pandemic.
We honored the administration and their support staff for their vision and direction; our nursing staff for their physical care and wellness support; dietary staff for providing great nourishment and yummy treats; life enrichment coordinators for adding their sense of fun, creativity, and adventure; pastoral care for worship, prayer, and comfort; maintenance and grounds for providing a maintenance-free lifestyle; IT support for keeping the WiFi running and the network safe; and the beauty shop for pampering the residents! We also honored transportation for driving residents where they needed to go; laundry and environmental staff for keeping everything clean and disinfected; Wesbury at Home care workers who provide quality care to our off-campus clients; Wesbury Foundation staff who raise funds to support residents who have diminished financial resources, and our Security department who allow for safe sleeping at night…we honor all of your dedication and service to the Wesbury community.
Thank you to all our 2021 Wesbury Tribute Week sponsors:
The Johnson Trust, First National Bank, Northwest, UPMC Health Plan, Building Systems Incorporated, PNC, RE Johnson Electric, and Sodexo.
Employee Appreciation and Recognition
In addition to Senior Tribute week, Wesbury staff was celebrated during Appreciation Week and Employee Recognition in the month of October.
For Appreciation Week, each Wesbury staff member was given a $26 voucher to select a Wesbury apparel item from local vendor, Iron Empire Clothing Co. of Erie, PA. They created a custom website where employees could shop online and choose from a variety of t-shirts and sweatshirts with the Wesbury logo. While on the site, they could also purchase additional items for family or friends.
For Employee Recognition, we celebrated staff members for their one year or increment of five years of service to the Wesbury community and thanked them for being a part of our team that helps to support so many residents and their families. Those being recognized had the opportunity to win raffle prizes and enjoy some cake with their co-workers.
Fall Fun at Wesbury
Every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday were considered Fall Fun Days. Sunday was “Game Day,” when employees could wear a shirt or jersey that represented their favorite sports teams. Wednesday’s themes included the holidays. For Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, staff showed off their black and orange spooky prints, their orange and brown turkey prints, and their red and green Santa clothes. On Fridays, we celebrated “Friday Night Lights” to represent any of the area schools (college, high school, even pre-school) that staff support. We also celebrated a variety of special days like National Cappuccino Day, where staff were greeted with free cappuccinos when they came in for their shifts and a “Count Your Buttons” contest on National Button Day where two lucky winners guessed closest to the number of buttons in a jar and each won a $25.00 gift certificate to Manino’s Restaurant in Meadville.