Mennonite Memorial Home in Bluffton has had multiple confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19. Due to the added stress placed on workers, administrators there reached out to Bluffton University, who has since been helping provide meals for the retirement community.
As of April 23, 19 staff members and residents at MMH had tested positive for COVID-19, and eight residents had passed away from the virus. According to board chair Elizabeth Kelly, those numbers are no longer accurate, but specific numbers were not available at time of publication as MMH is now reporting all numbers through the state’s website.
“Our director of food services used to work at the university with Sodexo,” said Jason Cox, director of marketing at Mennonite Home Communities of Ohio. “She’s been with us for a year or so now, and when this happened and they were needing some additional support, she immediately thought of them. Everybody at Bluffton University and Sodexo has been great.”
Dining services for the university is providing 200 meals a week to the Mennonite Home, helping with lunch and supper for the residents Monday through Friday. The Mennonite Home staff is still responsible for making breakfast, weekend meals and meals for residents with specialized diets. The meals go to Mennonite Memorial Home as well as Willow Ridge, which hasn’t had a positive case of COVID-19 but doesn’t have a separate dining department. Both are a part of Mennonite Home Communities of Ohio.
Phill Talavinia, interim vice president of Student Life and director of athletics at Bluffton University, said there is “little if any, direct contact between dining service staff or Mennonite Home staff.”
The food is put in hot boxes for transportation, which is picked up by the Mennonite Home staff. The boxes are sanitized and returned the next day to the university delivery dock outside of Marbeck Center. The food boxes never enter Bluffton’s facility, and Bluffton dining service staff don’t go to the Mennonite Home, according to Talavinia.
Talavinia said they don’t anticipate this having an impact on the 20 students remaining on campus who are receiving take-out meals from dining services.
“At a time when all of our students are not on campus, we are glad that we can provide this support to the Bluffton Village community,” Talavinia said.
Cox describes the small-town community, where everybody knows everybody, as being beneficial for the nursing home during this challenging time.
“We’ve just been so blessed with a community that’s really wanted to step up and help make sure our staff is supported how they need to be, as well as our residents getting the services that they need,” Cox said.
With the staff at the nursing home overwhelmed with everything that’s going on, Cox said receiving help with meals allows them to focus on doing a good job and making sure the residents are getting what they need.
“The more people helping, the easier everything gets,” Cox said. “My mom always used to say, ‘Many hands make light work,’ and that rings true here too. It’s been very helpful for the staff.”
