Representatives from Highlands Cashiers Hospital recently unveiled a canned good sculpture benefiting local food pantries.
As part of the annual “HCA Healthy Foods for Healthier Tomorrows Food Drive,” the Highlands-Cashiers Hospital staff constructed a sculpture out of canned goods to resemble the skyline of the Blue Ridge Mountains, complete with a helicopter made of canned food suspended from the ceiling, looking as though it was coming to the rescue.
The whole design was meant to evoke the response of the community in the wake of Hurricane Helene earlier this year, according to hospital CEO Tom Neal.
The event is put on every year with hospitals under the HCA banner competing to win a monetary prize from the company. Highlands-Cashiers Hospital didn’t win this year, losing out to Asheville’s Mission Hospital. Neal said the cans used to make the sculpture would go toward food pantries in Highlands and Cashiers.
At the event, Neal spoke about the significance of the sculpture, recounting the harrowing early days after the storm.
“It tells a story about how we came together and how the hospital rallied through a difficult time,” he said. “It’s been very challenging. We expected a food delivery the day the hurricane hit. Obviously, it did not come.”
He described the “scrambling” to take care of hospital patients in the early days after the hurricane when power and internet were mostly out and many roads between Highlands and Asheville were closed or damaged. He described sending people to South Carolina to shop.
“A heavy-lift helicopter bought a load of groceries,” Neal said. “Of course, a few days after that, the roads were open and it wasn’t as important.”
But they remembered the helicopter well and the memory of everyone working together inspired them to make the design from the canned goods.
Neal said Catherine Connolly-Hudson, president of Mountaintop Rotary, and others had worked hard to make the design correspond to the colors of the mountains and to make a convincing visual appropriation of it all.
“They were very specific on where the cans went,” said Neal, describing it as a group effort.
TJ Smith of the International Friendship Center, also in attendance on Tuesday, said the donated cans would be a big help.
“Canned goods are one thing we struggled with, especially in the early days, so this is a great help,” Smith said.
Mayor Patrick Taylor, also in attendance, called the hospital a “jewel in the crown” of helping people on the Plateau.
“We’re a community of partnerships, and this epitomizes that effort,” Taylor said.
In addition, Neal said the front of the hospital would be undergoing extensive renovations early next year including adding a new MRI machine, a new CAT scanner, a therapy space for patients and more. It will be a $3.5 million project. Because of that, Neal said they wouldn’t have room for the gigantic can sculpture soon.
“If you can have the cans out by the end of the month, that’d be great,” Neal said jokingly, addressing the representatives of the food pantries present.