During this season of giving, students from the St. Peter’s Hospital College of Nursing are once again giving back to Capital Region veterans.
On November 21, students delivered hundreds of pounds of canned goods and other food to the Albany Stratton VA Medical Center. The food drive, now in its fourth year, was spearheaded by Jennifer Moore, associate director at St. Peter’s Hospital College of Nursing and former emergency department nurse at the Stratton VA and SPHP Nurse of the Year (2016). In addition to food, the students raised more than $700 during the month-long collection effort.
Moore and her students hope the donations will help offset the Stratton VA’s pandemic-related struggles stocking and servicing its food pantry. The number of volunteers dwindled during COVID as did donations. This came at a time of increased reliance on donations which depleted the pantry’s stock and left shelves nearly empty. Coupled with inflation and cost of living increases, many veterans this year are in desperate need of care, shelter, and food, particularly as we head into the winter months.
The St. Peter’s Hospital College of Nursing would like to thank everyone who donated to the food drive, including Hewitt’s Garden Center, Hudson Police Benevolent Association, Hudson Police Department, Bethlehem Police Department, NY Women in Law Enforcement, and Kinderhook Elks Lodge.
