In 2020, we focused a lot of our attention and resources to helping our community. From the launch of our Spruce Up Your Story campaign in the summer to help restore well-loved community spaces, to our Spruce Up Your Story Holiday Edition campaign to provide gifts for individuals who had a challenging year.

While planning those holiday gifts, we knew we wanted to extend our holiday giving specifically for our frontline heroes in healthcare, who have been working tirelessly to help keep us safe. Our healthcare heroes gift was 1,000 cookies each to Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba to be distributed among their hardworking hospital staff.

Our hope was that this gift could brighten some healthcare workers’ days and we wanted to pass on a big Thank You for their dedication and care – both during the pandemic and beyond

After we delivered the gifts, we started to receive messages on social media and through emails from healthcare workers, expressing not only their thanks, but also some of them graciously shared their experiences working through the pandemic:

“I just wanted to say thank-you for sponsoring the cookies from Sweet Impressions that were distributed to staff at St Boniface Hospital in December. It really brightened my day and things have been really difficult at work lately. Thanks for thinking of us.” – Meaghan

These heartfelt replies have been wonderful to read and it’s great to learn that our gift has made a difference.

We reached out to some of the healthcare workers who shared their thanks online to follow up with them on how they have been doing since the holidays, and if they feel that small acts of kindness, like ours, are truly making a positive impact on their workday.

“With everything going on lately I’ve been feeling anxious before every shift and I vividly remember the screening staff handing me a cookie that morning with the word “hero” written across it,” says Ashley. “Something as simple as that reminded me of my purpose and encouraged me to keep going that day. To be honest, those cookies were the talk of the unit for my entire shift. Everyone was amazed at how beautiful they were decorated and how great they were.”

While we never expected to be the “talk of the unit” we are so glad our gift was appreciated and able to make some amazing healthcare workers feel like they heroes we know they are.

“Honestly, I’ve had a really hard time staying positive, but when we get small things like cookies or a meal from Winnipeg businesses, it makes you feel a little less alone and that people understand that it’s hard and really do appreciate it,” says Mikayla. “The biggest thing is not knowing when we’re going to be out of this storm and the hopelessness that comes with it in regard to our jobs. These things brighten your day and make a hard shift a little less hard.”

As an insurance company, we understand it is the people we protect who matter most, and we are so grateful to all our healthcare heroes for protecting all of us. Our purpose is to make a positive impact in the lives of our customers and our communities — a big part of that is supporting people who share that same goal in whatever way we can.

Thank You Healthcare Heroes! ❤