Amazon literally lived up to its logo this week by bringing smiles to patients, families and staff at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare. It was a simple gift of white lights, strings, a herd of deer, orbs, arches, other figures and the word, “Hope,” to light up the courtyard. Yet, there were smiles all around.
For the third year Amazon will also give out trees and menorahs to any patient who wants one. “These are the darkest days of the year and hospitalization can be dark,” said Gaylord official Tara Knapp, noting how Amazon is living its logo. “It helps to normalize their (patient) lives.
They would normally be out seeing lights.” A staff member at Gaylord who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote to the business giant to see if they could provide the materials to light up the courtyard. The staffer had seen two years earlier how much joy a small, brightly lit tree of one patient could bring.
The tree brought so much happiness, even to other patients. that the patient asked family and friends to order about 30 of them for other patients. So this year, the anonymous Gaylord employee wrote to Amazon and the “backstory,” touched a chord in Amazon spokesman Mike Murphy.
“When (the employee) said they were interested in expanding the lights and bring more joy, I was happy to partner with this project,” Murphy said. He said they typically donate to causes such as STEM education, food insecurity, and disaster relief, so, “This is slightly out of those core focus areas.
