University Makes Thanksgiving Brighter for Students

This year’s Thanksgiving presented a unique set of circumstances that ended up providing an opportunity for the University to make a potentially dreary holiday a little more special for Salus students.

The spike in COVID-19 cases across the country in the run-up to the holiday season complicated travel plans for many students. Adding to that was the recommendation from Pennsylvania to limit travel over the Thanksgiving holiday because of the possibility of spreading the virus in small family gatherings.

With the potential to disrupt the holiday like never before, some students decided to spend Thanksgiving alone in their apartments without their families. But University officials tried to ease that burden with a “Turkey Gobbler” event, to provide the students away from home with a Thanksgiving meal.

The idea started with an email from Tami April-Davis, PsyD, a counselor in the University’s Center for Personal & Professional Development (CPPD), to James M. Caldwell, OD ‘89, Resident ‘91, EdD, dean of Student Affairs.

“Tami said she had three students that were going to be home in Philadelphia by themselves over the holiday for the first time,” said Dr. Caldwell. “They talked about how strange it would be to not have their normal Thanksgiving routine with their families.”

Dr. Caldwell looped in both the University’s chief of staff Brian Zuckerman and Donald Kates, CPA, vice president of Finance. The three of them in turn approached Matt Morett, chief manager of the University’s Cafe’ for Metz Culinary. It was Morett who suggested providing the students with turkey gobbler sandwiches — turkey, stuffing and cranberries — on a long roll, as well as a vegetarian option that could be picked up the day before Thanksgiving.

Dr. Caldwell informed the student body and those interested in the complimentary meal signed up. There was a two-hour window where students could either pick up their meals or send a friend to pick up the meal for them if they were in one of the clinical facilities or obligated to their external clinical rotation at the time.

“I could have just said to Tami send the three students my way and I’ll make sure they get something. But that didn’t feel right to me,” said Dr. Caldwell. “If three students are brave enough to raise their hands and speak up, that means there could be others.”

And, it turned out to be bigger than he had anticipated. Dr. Caldwell said going into it he thought maybe 20 to 25 students would sign up. The final tally was 72 students who placed orders, representing all three of the Colleges.

The gesture was well received. “Salus truly embodies the value of making school feel like home despite being away from home. I am always pleasantly surprised by the school's efforts and events,” said Megan Wong ‘21PA, who is originally from Stockton, California. “Providing a complimentary Thanksgiving meal to students really highlighted this. Personally, I am from the West Coast and have not been home since last Christmas.”

She wasn’t the only student who appreciated the University’s effort. Dr. Caldwell said nearly all of the students who signed up for the meal included messages of appreciation to the University.

“That was one of the most moving things as I was reading the orders, I was enjoying the comments of gratitude,” said Dr. Caldwell, who wrote a note to Zuckerman and Kates that said, “The kind words of thanks and appreciation shared by the students really highlights the importance of this undertaking.”

According to Dr. Caldwell, the bottom line was that students received what they needed. “We can’t thank Matt and the entire Metz team for going above and beyond in making so many of our students’ Thanksgivings a little bit happier,” added Zuckerman.

Although the University has previously donated meals and services to those in need around the Thanksgiving holiday, in this instance, the pandemic forced an issue that the University and its students had not previously confronted.

“To me, Thanksgiving 2020 created a unique set of needs and an opportunity for us to be able to respond to the needs of the students,” said Dr. Caldwell.