In The Community
Employees Deliver Lunches to First Responders and Healthcare Workers
RALEIGH, N.C. (May 2, 2020) - Wake Tech partnered with college service contractors and a food vendor to provide lunch for first responders and healthcare workers. Employees delivered the lunches to WakeMed and the Fairview Fire Department in appreciation for those serving on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic.
Supreme Maintenance Organization (SMO), which provides janitorial services, and Piedmont Service Group, which provides HVAC services, teamed up with MoJo’s Grill to provide boxed lunches to local firefighters and nurses. MoJo’s operates a location on Southern Wake Campus, SMO and Piedmont graciously offered to pay for the food and MoJo’s sold it at cost. Each box contained a handwritten thank-you note.
Several Wake Tech staff members volunteered to deliver the lunches to firefighters at the Fairview Rural Fire Department in Apex. Fairview serves Wake Tech’s Southern Wake Campus.
The volunteers also handed out lunches to nurses at WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh who work on the same floor as Victoria Carnes, a graduate of Wake Tech’s nursing program. The nurses are directly treating patients with COVID-19.
"We know that you and other first responders are putting your lives on the line during the coronavirus pandemic," said Billy Gerringer with Wake Tech Facilities. "We thought it was a good time to express our appreciation for all that you do to help our community on a daily basis."
“The firefighters and nurses told us they were very thankful for the kind gesture,” said Tamaria Lawson, Director of Campus Services at Wake Tech’s Southern Wake Campus. “We enjoyed doing something special for them.”
Volunteers wore gloves and masks and observed social distancing rules.
Wake Tech has one of the region’s largest nursing programs, with approximately 300 students and about 150 graduates each year. Ninety-eight percent of Wake Tech’s nursing graduates typically pass the NCLEX licensure exam on their first attempt and 95% of graduates are employed within six months. Wake Tech also trains fire and rescue personnel. The fire service program is designed to provide full time and volunteer fire departments with the opportunity to gain knowledge, practical skills, and certification in modern firefighting, rescue, officer development, and fire department management skills.
