Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort employees collected and donated more than 10,000 supplies for the Cherokee Public Health and Human Services division. Shown (left-right) are: Manager of Juvenile Services Clarence Jackson, Manager of Supplemental Health Insurance Calvin Hill, Emergency Housing Coordinator Tamara Jackson, Manager of Domestic Violence Program Iva Key, Manager of Community Health Vivian Solis, Manager of Family Services Barbara Jones, Manager of Home Health Melanie Ashe, Manager of Heart to Heart Brandi Cooper, Administrator of Tsali Care Center Davis Hunt, and Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Administrator Michelle Sneed. (Harrah’s Cherokee photo)
Through a community service initiative led by the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort Operations division, employees collected 10,264 needed items for the Cherokee Public Health and Human Services (PHHS) division.
Hundreds of Harrah’s Cherokee employees from across the property’s multiple departments donated thousands of toothbrushes, toothpaste, bath soap, wash towels, dish soap, sponges, and toilet paper over a three-month period.
“We were all so surprised at the overall amount of items that Harrah’s employees collected and donated,” PHHS Health Operations Director Aneva Turtle Hagberg said. “The staff, as well as the families we serve, is very appreciative. There’s always an on-going need of some of the most basic necessities in life that some of us take for granted.”
The benefitting PHHS programs include the Children’s Dental Program, Community Health Nursing Program, Emergency Housing Program, Home Health Nursing Program, and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program. Many of the donations will be used to organize welcome baskets for emergency housing participants, give toothbrushes and toothpaste to children starting back to school, and assist PHHS staff prepare meals and clean for in-home individuals.
The collection drive, spearheaded by Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort Administrator Michelle Sneed, was an effort to ensure all of the Cherokee PHHS programs have the needed items for the people they support. Most of the programs rely heavily on volunteers and donations to provide their daily supplies.
“We all experience great loss at some point in our lives,” Sneed said. “I think our employees who participated did it because they’ve been there or would like to know that someone would care for them in their time of need.”
Through the PHHS supply drive alone, Harrah’s Cherokee employees earned nearly 70 percent of the property’s goal of 15,000 volunteer hours for the year.
– Harrah’s Cherokee
