It’s going to be full tummies for the staff of the local skilled nursing and assisted living facilities following a wonderful plan from the Shoshone Medical Center Foundation.

The SMC Foundation purchased $2,000 worth of gift certificates from local restaurants that they then distributed to the staff at the three local facilities.

On Thursday morning, SMC Foundation Executive Director Ashlee Myles took the gift cards to Silver Wood Village, Mountain Valley of Cascadia and Pacific Senior Living, and dropped them off to members of the staff who could take a quick break.

“These folks are working so hard for our community,” Myles said. “I think people tend to forget about the people who work in these facilities because so much of it is behind the scenes, but they are doing so much right now to take care of the most vulnerable people in our communities and we just wanted to say thank you for that.”

Mountain Valley CEO Emilee Kulin was so thankful for the generosity and discussed how the current stressful climate of skilled nursing care can sometimes result in nurses not finding the time or will to cook for themselves, which makes this gesture even more valuable.

Kulin may be the CEO of the Kellogg facility, but her roots in the community were also touched by the fact that the gift certificates were for local restaurants, thus the gesture benefiting many people in the community.

“The Shoshone Medical Center Foundation is simply amazing,” Kulin said. “The outreach of support our staff feel is astonishing. That was hundreds of dollars in local gift certificates to help our staff through this time that they delivered to our center today. In this time of uncertainty, it can be hard to find time to cook or even the will to cook if you are working in the essential medical field, it is wonderful to know that the community has your back. Our essential workers send their extreme gratitude for this generous gesture.”