HOULTON, Maine — Nurses are the backbone of any hospital or medical clinic, logging many long hours and getting little in the way of recognition for their efforts.
To help remedy that lack of recognition, a group of students and volunteers have taken it upon themselves the past two years to show their appreciation for this dedicated group of health care workers.
About 1,000 care packages were created for nurses from Patten to Caribou. The care packages contained a number of gift certificates featuring discounts at local businesses, an individualized letter written by a student, and a commemorative pin.
Students in the Hodgdon JMG program held a contest to come up with a specially designed piece of artwork for this year. That artwork was then turned into a pin for every nurse. The winning design was created by Brooke Wheeler, an eighth-grader at Hodgdon Middle-High School.
This piece of artwork, created by Hodgdon eighth-grader Brooke Wheeler, was selected to be the template for a special pin created for nurses. (Photo courtesy of Toni Hetherington)
Wheeler’s artwork featured a scrub — the garment traditionally worn by a nurse — with a black circle symbolizing a sunrise or sunset to show that nurses are always with patients.
Students from Hodgdon Mill Pond, East Grand Community, Houlton Elementary, Houlton Southside schools and Greater Houlton Christian Academy wrote letters for the nurses, with two particular students — Shiloh and Shemma Richardson — drafting 300 letters between the two of them.
The care packages were presented to nurses during Nurses Appreciation Week, May 6-12.
