Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital employees, physicians, volunteers and patients demonstrated their generosity and support for Atlanta's homeless community by contributing more than $8,000 in monetary donations and toiletry items to Mercy Care Atlanta. These items include shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, socks and other basic hygiene necessities. Emory Saint Joseph's employees sorted and assembled individual kits containing these items, which are then distributed by Mercy Care throughout the year to homeless shelters and outreach initiatives in the metro area.

Emory Saint Joseph's contribution will provide nearly 3,000 kits for those in need, and employees throughout Emory Healthcare also joined Emory Saint Joseph's campaign by donating a variety of toiletry items.

"These kits are often referred to as dignity kits, meaning the items we use every day give the homeless and underserved across the city a sense of dignity and pride that they would not otherwise have," says Heather Dexter, CEO of Emory Saint Joseph's. "We are so appreciative of everyone who participated in this longstanding tradition."

The Mercy Care collection started at Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital in 1985, when employees began collecting toiletry items in observance of Mercy Day, as a way of extending the Mercy mission of the hospital by serving the poor and vulnerable at Mercy Care Atlanta.

Mercy Day is held annually in recognition of Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy. Saint Joseph's Hospital was in turn founded in 1880 by four Sisters of Mercy who traveled from Savannah, Ga. to Atlanta to establish the city's first hospital.