Hospital nutrition team celebrates Mother’s Day with handmade charcuterie board sale

With Mother’s Day around the corner, the Morrison Healthcare team at the Hunt Family Cafe inside Arkansas Children’s Northwest Hospital is hosting a Mother’s Day charcuterie board sale.

The team partnered with an emergency department employee at the Springdale, Ark., hospital, who practices woodworking on the side, to supply the handmade boards.

“He does really beautiful wood boards and tables and things like that, and then he made us some boards to use for catering. So, we thought about asking him to make us some smaller ones to have out for Mother's Day,” says Food Service Director Megan Herrmann.

The boards, which are being displayed in the cafe for purchase, have helped busy hospital staff make time to celebrate the moms and mother figures in their lives.

Striking a chord with employees

The boards come in both non-engraved and engraved versions. Engraved boards include sayings and quotes related to Mother’s Day and sell for $35, while plain boards go for $30.

Guests can also purchase different spreads and cheeses.

“They have everything they need to make a little charcuterie board for their mother for Mother's Day,” says Herrmann.

While anyone can purchase the boards, they are most popular with hospital employees.

“Because of COVID, our visitor guidelines are kind of gray right now, so the majority that people that are buying them are our staff members, which we love because they're so busy,” says Herrmann. 

Related:Hospital foodservice team serves up personal dishes and stories to celebrate diversity

With many hospital employees picking up extra shifts, markets such as this are “so appreciated,” she adds.

In the past, the team has hosted a holiday market in December, and it’s planning on bringing the boards back this summer for Father’s Day.

While they can take time to execute, markets such as these are possible if operators think ahead and plan, Herrmann says.

“You just get caught up in the chaos of the business and our business really is to feed patients and run the cafeteria, it really isn't to think about holidays and doing things like this,” she says. “But, if you take a minute and really be strategic about the next month or maybe even the next two months and you give yourself some time, that's really the key to being able to come up with new and different things like this.”