The Health Center staff spreads Yuletide spirit year-round with its very own Laughter Committee, surely the least bureaucratic and most light-hearted group of its kind you'd find anywhere. Members of the committee take very seriously-albeit with a big smile-the matter of committing random acts of kindness, on campus and off.
The group's latest idea is a major offering to the Church of the Joyful Healer, a Methodist congregation in McKinleyville. Not content with exchanging Christmas presents among themselves, Health Center staffers pooled the money they would have spent on a gift exchange and gave a record $287.50 to the church to assist needy families.
The Student Health Center Laughter Committee met for the first time in September, 2006. All staff from the center and the Counseling & Psychological Services Department were invited. Monthly meetings include jokes, sharing of ideas and goals and, of course, lots of humor.
Staffers go on spontaneous fun adventures in the building, organize social events and generally trigger opportunities to laugh-all aimed at achieving a balance of play and hard work. The team's activities span the proverbial (and literal) soup-to-nuts: boxed food for students, fundraisers to purchase fruit and soup.
Since its Fall 2006 inception, Laughter Committee members have: --Sent special Thank You messages to HSU staff, "to be filled out whenever the feeling of gratitude hits you," says Mary Grooms VanCott, Health Center Associate Director.
--Become "Secret Pals" who send anonymous notes of encouragement or put favorite candies in the mailboxes of colleagues. At the end of the semester, the pals reveal their identities to their beneficiaries with a special card or gift.
--Organized Appreciation Days (other than birthdays or other special occasions), which honor a staff member with a decorated office door, a series of individual cards, small gifts or favorite food items.
--Set up Cookie Swaps. VanCott explains, "Participants contribute dozens of cookies and distribute plates of them to other departments on campus that have been particularly helpful to the Health Center during the year. This year we honored Plant Operations for all its help with our facilities upgrade this summer."
--Involved students in Health Center functions. Committee members competed with each other in a pumpkin carving contest and asked students to vote for their favorite creations. A Finals Week Table provided students with granola bars and juices. The welcome sign read "Good luck on your exams! SHC Staff."
"For every event we sponsor, we take pictures and put them on our staff bulletin board so everyone can share in the fun!" exclaims VanCott.
The Laughter Committee is already busy with plans for 2008, when it will focus on wellness. One of the activities planned is called "Movin' with the Movie." Staff will be invited to bring lunch, circle the modernized Health Center building in a brisk walk as many times as possible in 15 minutes, then retire to the conference room to dine and enjoy 30 minutes of a popular movie. The plan calls for four gatherings over two weeks to watch a two-hour movie.
At the end of 2008, the Laughter Committee plans to go Christmas caroling at senior citizen facilities, topped off with hot chocolate at a nearby staff member's home.
"Our list is never ending, as long as we have a desire to laugh, make others smile and have imaginations," VanCott enthuses. She and her colleagues hope their example will catch on campus-wide as word spreads of their activities. Says Registered Nurse Kim Perris, "The Laughter Committee reminds us to take care of each other, show appreciation and stay positive!"
Adds Jackie Wiedemann, Nurse Practitioner and Nursing Supervisor, "I really love the idea at Christmas that we give to a greater cause and aren't focused on trying to give individual gifts to each other. It makes me feel part of the greater community of Humboldt County."