Local athletes and businesses support COVID-19 response and Saint Joseph Mercy Health System colleagues

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Bobby Maldonado

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System


248-858-6662

Caption: Justin Abdelkader, a left wing and alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings, and his wife Julie Leshkevich, donated 1,200 meals from the Detroit Wing Company, which fed an entire day and night shift at St. Joe's Oakland.

CANTON, Mich. (April 21, 2020) – St. Joseph Mercy Oakland and St. Mary Mercy Livonia, member hospitals of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, recently received donations to support health care workers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in southeast Michigan.

Justin Abdelkader, a left wing and alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings, and his wife Julie Leshkevich, donated 1,200 meals from the Detroit Wing Company, which fed an entire day and night shift at St. Joe's Oakland.

Abdelkader also sent a video via social media to encourage hospital colleagues. See the video here.

"Julie and I are ever-grateful to the staff on the front lines who are keeping us safe," said Abdelkader. "We know the team at St. Joe's is working hard to combat this outbreak and we wanted to show our gratitude."

Dylan Larkin, also an alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings, donated 25,000 gloves to St. Mary Mercy Livonia. To purchase the gloves, Larkin worked with his father, who is in the beauty supply industry and has access to medical-grade gloves.

"My dad and I saw on the news that hospitals, including St. Joe’s, had a big need for medical-grade gloves,” Larkin said. “We’re just trying to do our part to keep the doctors, nurses and frontline workers safe. They're the ones putting their own lives on the line every time they go to work right now, and we felt it was important to help."

"To receive food donations from these amazing athletes proves they are leaders both on and off the ice," said Shannon Striebich, president of St. Joseph Mercy Oakland and interim president of St. Mary Mercy Livonia. "Their support gives our staff a much-needed boost and lifts our spirits at a challenging time for all of us."

The generosity displayed from Red Wings stars follows a similar act of generosity from Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, and his wife Kelly, who recently purchased meals for staff from Roadside B&G, a local restaurant located near St. Joe's Oakland.

Other major donations from businesses and organizations in Southeast Michigan include:

• Big George's - 40 new flat-screen televisions
• Brighton Ford - $3,000 to St. Joe's Livingston
• Carl's Golfland - $25,000 to St. Joe's Oakland
• Dexter United Methodist Church - Web cams for St. Joe's Chelsea Behavioral Health Services
• Domino's - $10,000 and 400 pizzas for staff at St. Joe's Ann Arbor, St. Joe's Livingston, St. Joe's Oakland and St. Mary Mercy Livonia.
• DTE Foundation - 10,000 masks to St. Mary Mercy Livonia

• Ford Motor Company - 1,000 face shields per week on an ongoing basis for St. Joe's caregivers and frontline colleagues

• General Motors - 10,000 to 30,000 masks on an ongoing basis for St. Joe's caregivers and frontline colleagues

  
  
  

• Harbor Freight - 8 pallets of PPE including face shields, N95 masks and nitrile gloves, valued at more than $60,000.

• Heroes at Hospitals - $2,400 in meals for St. Joe's Oakland staff
• Hudsonville Ice Cream - $4,250 of ice cream for staff at St. Joe's Ann Arbor and St. Joe's Livingston

• La-Z-Boy - 10 recliner chairs for colleague wellness at St. Joe's Ann Arbor
• Little Caesar's - 20 pizzas a day to St. Mary Mercy Livonia and St. Joe's Livingston for 2 weeks

• Mahindra Automotive North America - 800 meals for staff at St. Joe's Oakland
• MASCO Corporation - $20,000 for St. Mary Mercy Livonia

• Meijer (Royal Oak Store) - $5,000 check and $1,000 gift card

• Regency Manor Banquet Center - $3,200 in meals for St. Joe's Oakland staff
• TE Transportation Solutions / ICT - $2,500 to St. Joe's Health System and 250 face shields to St. Joe's Oakland
• Thrive Juicery - $2,800 in healthy juices for staff at St. Joe's Ann Arbor
• Toyota Motor North America, Inc. - 500 face shields to St. Joe's Ann Arbor

Donation centers have been set up at each of the five Saint Joseph Mercy Health System hospital locations, which includes St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea, St. Joseph Mercy Livingston, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, and St. Mary Mercy Livonia.

All community inquiries regarding Personal Protective Equipment or food donations for hospital staff should be sent by e-mail to Kim Niethammer (Kim.Niethammer@stjoeshealth.org). Please include as much detail as possible in the e-mail.

To make a monetary donation to support the COVID-19 hospital response effort and the staff who are facing financial hardships with their families due to this crisis, please visit St. Joe's Giving, (https://www.stjoeshealth.org/about-us/ways-to-give/) and click on our "Make Your Gift" button to select your hospital.

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About Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) is a health care organization serving seven counties in southeast Michigan including Livingston, Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Jackson, and Lenawee. It includes 548-bed St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, 497-bed St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, 304-bed St. Mary Mercy Livonia, 66-bed St. Joseph Mercy Livingston in Howell, and 133-bed St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. Combined, the five hospitals are licensed for 1,548 beds, have five outpatient health centers, six urgent care facilities, more than 25 specialty centers; employ more than 15,300 individuals and have a medical staff of nearly 2,700 physicians. SJMHS has annual operating revenues of about $2 billion and returns about $115 million to its communities annually through charity care and community benefit programs.