It began back in 2018 with a Day of Service that was intended to inspire AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division team members to extend the healing ministry of Christ beyond hospital walls.

“With tremendous team member support over the years, our annual service opportunity has grown into a weeklong service event,” says Courtney Snyder, Community Engagement manager for AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division. This year’s effort, celebrated on November 6–10, included team members from throughout Florida.

During the 2023 Week of Caring, AdventHealth's 1,220 team members volunteered nearly 2,500 hours, assisting 76 community partners in diverse activities. Their commitment reflected AdventHealth's dedication to community impact.

Activities ranged from serving meals—packing 100,000 meals and assembling dinner grab bags for a food pantry—and installing community gardens to creating a mental health mile and assisting a mobile shower/laundry trailer for the unsheltered. The team also wrote letters of hope for mental health struggles, crafted birthday cards for foster children, installed a little free library, and decorated vocabulary flashcards for elementary school kids. These initiatives underscore AdventHealth's commitment to community engagement, making a substantial impact across various realms.

“AdventHealth has a commitment to wholeness, which we believe means caring for our communities inside and outside the hospital walls,” Snyder says.

The original version of this story was posted on the AdventHealth website.