Obstetrics staff and new moms at BIDMC were surprised with lunches and bouquets of flowers from a local business.

‘So Appreciative’: Nurses, New Moms at Boston Hospital Honored for Mother’s Day. Joyce Arrigo of Spectra Medical Devices donated hundreds of meals and flowers to nurses at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as a way to say thank you

NBC Boston – May 9, 2020

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The coronavirus pandemic has hampered celebrations this year, putting a stop to several traditions while threatening holidays like Mother’s Day, but moms will not be forgotten.

“Mother’s Day is not cancelled” a Boston health care worker said.

Thanks to Joyce Arrigo and Spectra Medical Devices, hundreds of meals were sent to nurses at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as a way to say thank you, while new moms in the hospital’s delivery unit also received congratulatory flowers.

“The flowers are going to make such a difference to everybody, and of course, food always helps,” the nurse said.

“Knowing that you won’t have the support and everybody coming into the hospital to see the new babies,” Arrigo said of new moms who aren’t able to have visitors because of COVID-19 restrictions. “I’m a first time grandmother and my daughter’s a first time mom. It would be nice to kind of give back to a hospital and a labor and delivery unit.”

As a truck full of the gifts was unloaded at the Boston hospital, several nurses watched, saying this Mother’s Day surprise is just what they needed.

“Amazing! So appreciative we can’t even tell you,” one nurse said.

Arrigo wants moms to know they are not alone.

“It’s a daily struggle, it’s a daily battle,” she said.

Of the food and flowers, Arrigo said, “It’s a little ray of sunshine.”

Spectra has been doing this for the last few weeks and has fed about 1,000 medical workers so far.