Delaware County Memorial Hospital (DCMH) has worked hand-in-hand with students from Malvern Preparatory School on a special project that would bring doctors and nurses in impoverished countries clean and usable scrubs.

More than 150 items were donated.

“This experience was worthwhile,” said Donna Hughes R.N. at DCMH. “To be a part of something like this is pretty special. You could feel the energy from our employees who were participating and I think others fed off that enthusiasm. Betsy McCarry, myself and all the members of the Nurse Practice Council would like to thank everyone who got involved with the drive. We appreciate the efforts people put forth in order to make an impact on the lives of those less fortunate.”

The hospital scrub donation kicked off on March 2 and ended in late May. The students at Malvern Prep will be personally taking the uniforms to the doctors and nurses throughout countries in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Peru.

“We were doing a uniform transformation to one color for RNs; instead of giving our scrubs to Goodwill and not knowing where they were going and who they were helping, we decided to do something different,” said Betsy McCarry, a nurse at DCMH. “We had heard about the success DCMH had with their uniform drive so we spoke with Marie DeStefano, administrative director of oncology for CKHS, who put us in contact with the people at Malvern Prep. That was enough to get the ball rolling on our own drive.”

The employees felt the impact of their donations so much that one nurse even decided to write personal, uplifting messages wishing those doctors good health and strength throughout their stay in those countries.

“One employee wrote the doctors a note and placed it into the pockets of scrubs she donated,” McCarry said. “She wanted to send her personal thanks to the doctors who were out there working so hard to make a difference. This inspired some of the other employees to follow in her footsteps.”

In addition to the DCMH scrub drive, Taylor Hospital was also able to provide the students with over 350 pounds of uniform donations to take with them on their Christian service trip.

“We wanted a number attached to this whole thing so the employees could see the significance of their donation,” McCarry said. “We never dreamed that it would be this big, but when you have a dedicated staff like ours, anything is possible.”