St. Andrews Auxiliary members were busy on Valentine's Day with their annual luncheon tradition thanking LincolnHealth medical staff on the Boothbay peninsula. Lunch was provided at St. Andrews Village for 37 employees, and at the family care/urgent care campus for 63 employees.   

Auxiliary director and social activities chair Linda Clapp said about 30 members were involved either behind the scenes or on site to set up "Grab and Go" lunches of pizza, candies and homemade cookies. Feeding 100 employees is "A bit of a task," Clapp said and Auxiliary members coordinated baking cookies and packaging valentine candies. Clapp also expressed her appreciation to House of Pizza for the generous discount. "They do a fabulous job. We're grateful to Dina and the crew there."

Clapp credited her fellow Auxiliary members whose hard work continues the luncheon tradition.

"Two crews were needed to deliver food, and two crews of five were at the sites to serve. There are always people who step up," she said.

Clapp explained that providing an appreciation meal goes back many years and wasn't held on Valentine's Day before the arrival of COVID. Keeping up the tradition has been challenging. Clapp remembered having to cancel the 2021 luncheon the day before it was scheduled and for the next couple of years all food had to be pre-packaged and dropped off for the LincolnHealth employees.

"We had to be creative," she said. “That's where the 'Grab and Go' term came from. It's exciting, for the first time in a few years, we can be face-to-face with doctors and staff."

The luncheon is one of three major annual events for the Auxiliary. The others are an appreciation luncheon for volunteers in July and the annual meeting in October at which cash awards are given.

According to its president Gloria Wakefield, in 2023 the Auxiliary gave $118,000 in cash awards to organizations and programs that benefit the community.

"The majority of our cash donations come from the proceeds of our Thrift Shop sales. All of our Thrift Shop merchandise is donated, to us, by our community and our Thrift Shop is staffed by Auxiliary members who volunteer their time. We have no paid staff," Wakefield explained in an email to the Register.

Of the total awarded, $98,500 went to LincolnHealth for programs and materials that include a health clinic at Boothbay Region High School, equipment for the Women's Center and Ophthalmology Department, an MRI project and $41,000 for the Family Care Center, Urgent Care and Village.

The amount also includes scholarships for nursing and medical schools awarded to "BRHS students, Lincoln Health employees who are enhancing their careers and any adult in the Boothbay Region who is interested in a health care-related field of study," Wakefield explained.

Other donations to area services went to Boothbay Region Ambulance Service, New Hope for Women and District Nursing Association and totaled $19,500.

Clapp sees the Thrift Shop's increasing recognition with creating more available funds for LincolnHealth and the community's needs. "Every year we've been able to buy more significant equipment. We're generous with how we allocate it," she said, noting that many people don't know that their Thrift Shop donations and purchases create funds that benefit the community. "We do significant things with the money we bring in."