Linda Ollis, CEO, stands next to a pyramid made of canned good gathered during the food drive.

During its annual “Feed the Need” food drive, the employees and physicians of Creighton University Medical Center (CUMC) rallied to gather 28,716 pounds of food. The drive benefited the Siena/Francis House Homeless Shelter, the region’s largest shelter providing food, shelter and clothing to men, women and children. 

According to Tim Sully, Development Director for the Siena/Francis House, it was the single largest food donation the shelter has received in its 31 years of operation. “I was literally speechless when I walked in to the room,” Sully said upon seeing the staff’s efforts collected during the final weigh-in. 

Participants in the drive gathered on December 20 to hear the final weight total and celebrate the successful drive. Piles of canned goods and other foods were arranged in the hospital’s Becic Dining Room, with a pyramid in one corner towering over Sully and CUMC CEO Linda Ollis as she presented the items to the shelter.  

“Hunger knows no season,” Ollis said during the celebration. “And it is with great honor that I am proud to announce this record-setting donation for an organization as worthy as the Siena/Francis House.”  

The Siena/Francis house is expected to serve approximately 335,000 meals to the poor and homeless in 2007. “This food will go a long way in helping ensure those meals get served,” according to Sully.  

In addition to being a record-setting donation for the Siena/Francis House, the more than 14 tons of food collected is the largest CUMC “Feed the Need” food drive for the house. Last year, CUMC gathered 16,180 pounds of food, the next highest donation for the hospital.