Hospital honors MLK's legacy with community service awards

1/30/12 — Yale New Haven Hospital recently awarded three $1,000 Martin Luther King community service awards to New Haven students who are setting examples in their communities. YNHH's service award program honors the legacy of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., by providing scholarships to eligible high school students, as well as grants to New Haven elementary schools.

The award recipients must live in New Haven, attend a New Haven public school and have performed in excess of 40 hours of uncompensated community service. While students may volunteer at any agency or church in New Haven, this year's awardees all happen to volunteer at YNHH.

The three students, all seniors, chosen this year were:

• Danielle Brodie is on the healthcare tract at Career Regional High School and volunteers at Yale New Haven Hospital.
• Eimy Quispe, Wilbur Cross High School, is a YNHH School-to-Career intern, where she participates in the future nurse program. She also volunteers at YNHH and brings the art cart and the book cart to patients.
• Jordan Doyens, Wilbur Cross, also volunteers at YNHH where he is an ambassador, works with the Toy Closets and rode in the first Closer to Free bike ride that raised money for Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven.

"This program is very well received in our community because it focuses on the contributions of students — on the ‘heart' they bring to their communities," said Patricia Worthy, RN, manager, Workplace Diversity. "We think these awards capture the spirit of Martin Luther King and what he meant when he said he dreamt of a day when his children could be judged by the ‘content of their character.'"

In the photo: Members of the Martin Luther King Committee recently presented this year’s students with their MLK awards. Standing in the front row, from left, are: Eimy Quispe, Danielle Brodie, Jordan Doyens and Patricia Worthy. In the second row, from left, are committee members: Andy Orefice, program coordinator, and Kyle Ballou, administrative director, Community and Government Relations; and Debbie Woodworth, assistant to the president, Administration.

Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), part of Yale New Haven Health, is a nationally recognized, 1,541-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Medicine (YSM). Founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the U.S. in 1826, today, YNHH has two New Haven-based campuses, and also includes Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital and Smilow Cancer Hospital. YNHH has received Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s highest honor of nursing excellence. YNHH has a combined medical staff of about 4,500 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties. www.ynhh.org