For his 49th birthday, Karl Nieva decided to celebrate by doing something special: donating 49 coffees to the health care workers at Grand River Hospital.

As a member of the Care. Never. Stops. Council and an active member of our community, this isn’t the first time Karl has given back to the community to celebrate his birthday. In fact, it’s something he typically does every year, supporting organizations across Kitchener-Waterloo and beyond, like The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, House of Friendship and the YMCA of Three Rivers. But this year, as our health care workers navigate the fifth, and most challenging, wave of the pandemic, he felt that it was particularly important to support Grand River Hospital.

“These medical staff have been in the front lines of this pandemic,” Karl said when asked why he chose to support the Hospital. “We have been asking a lot of them, and 49 coffees probably go a long way.”

And they do. The Omicron wave may have peaked in the community, but the resulting pressure on hospitals historically lags by two or three weeks and is now being felt across the health care system. Our health care workers are tired and overwhelmed. And while it won’t solve the bigger problems of the pandemic, supporting health care staff with a free coffee or meal is a small gesture we each can make to remind them how much we appreciate them and their continued dedication and perseverance.

“I really wanted to celebrate life,” Karl explained, “and what better way to celebrate than give 49 coffees to people that are saving lives?”

Like Karl, you, too, can be there for our health care workers when they need us most. Visit our Support for Staff Collection to learn all the ways you can make a difference for the staff at Grand River Hospital.