Sixty-seven needy families of the Calumet Area had a merrier Christmas thanks to an Adopt-A-Family program supported by the employees, volunteers, medical staff, executives and vendors of St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Hammond and Dyer.

The Adopt-A-Family program, now in its 22nd consecutive year, allows departments or groups of friends throughout the hospital to adopt a needy family. Employees are given information as to what their adopted family needs the most, which may include needed clothes, toys for children and a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.

The hospitals' Mission Integration Committee identified these needy families with the assistance of several area service organizations.

Families are assigned to participating departments in November.

On Dec. 21, employees bearing wrapped gifts, boxes of food and other donations congregated in the Dyer hospital's auditorium and the Hammond hospital's cafeteria for a brief prayer service and blessing of the gifts. The gathered presents were swiftly transported by cars and vans to the adopted families.

"It is traditional at Christmas time to make provisions for the needy," Tom Gryzbek, president of St. Margaret Mercy, said in a news release. "Each December we have such excitement and waves of generosity leading up to this event.

"Employees work to inspire each other to make Christmas a day of love and hope for these families," Gryzbek said in the release. "It is St. Margaret Mercy's way of saying Merry Christmas to the community."

- For The Times