Saint Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Dyer and Hammond, with assistance from several outside organizations, made Christmas merry for 346 children and 141 adults this past season through the hospital’s Adopt-A-Family program. Employees, volunteers, medical staff, executives and vendors combine resources in this annual outreach.

The Adopt-A-Family program, now in its 24th consecutive year, allows departments or groups of friends throughout the hospital to "adopt" a needy family. Employees are given information about what their adopted family needs the most, which may include clothing, toys for children and a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.

The hospitals’ Mission Integration Committee identifies needy families with the assistance of several area service organizations, and families are assigned to participating departments in November.

A week before Christmas, employees bearing wrapped gifts, boxes of food and other donations congregated in the Dyer Campus auditorium and the Hammond Campus cafeteria for a prayer service and blessing of the gifts. Employees then delivered the gifts directly to their adopted families.

Organizations that joined St. Margaret Mercy’s efforts include Citizens Bank, Lake Surgical Associates, Hyre Electric, Whiting Masonic Lodge 613, Select Specialty Hospital, Lake County Convention & Visitors Bureau and Franciscan Physicians Hospital.