Camp Summerset honors Northern Westchester Hospital Staff

In commemoration of the care and love healthcare workers displayed towards their community during the COVID-19 pandemic, a dozen middle schoolers from Camp Summerset in Bedford, NY presented Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH) with an inspirational 3x5-foot “word” mural thanking doctors and nurses for their service. The mural was created as part of Camp Summerset’s annual Spreading the Word project, a learning experience that helps children in its middle school leadership program express creativity through words and create murals for organizations that do important work in the community. The program has created murals for organizations that include Ronald McDonald House in Valhalla, Maria Ferrari Children’s Hospital, Friends of Karen, and My Sisters Place.

“We are so grateful to the campers at Camp Summerset for honoring our healthcare workers with this beautiful artwork,” said Northern Westchester Hospital’s chief nursing officer Catherine Manley-Cullen, who accepted the gift and said the mural will be displayed in the staff entryway. “Acts of kindness like this go a long way. We know our team members will enjoy the mural and be honored to see that their dedication to the community is appreciated and reciprocated.”

The campers learned about the challenges the pandemic presented to healthcare workers during a camp visit from NWH executive director Derek Anderson and associate medical director, Dr. Sherri Sandel. Allison Meyers, the art teacher at Camp Summerset, worked with the campers to design a mural that would beautify the hospital and let its staff know how much their work is appreciated.

“Every summer for the past 29 years, except for a year of COVID, children at a critical stage of adolescence enter our three-week learning journey and emerge as team players who see themselves as part of a wider community in which they can be a force for good,” said Jo-Ann Ferrigno, Camp Summerset’s founder and executive director. “The Spreading the Word project is one in which our oldest students give thanks to local organizations that do meaningful and impactful work. After a year that brought many changes to our lives, we wanted to honor the healthcare workers and staff at Northern Westchester Hospital whose strength and commitment to all of us never wavered.”