MUSCATINE, Iowa–From helping install a new elevator to getting the helipad built on the roof of UnityPoint Health–Trinity Muscatine Hospital, the Trinity Muscatine Friends have helped with their fair share of large projects to improve the quality of healthcare facilities in Muscatine. Though these projects may sound intimidating, the Friends believe they have a huge positive impact on the community. “We believe that quality local healthcare is a foundation of a vibrant community able to recruit in other sectors,” said Trinity Muscatine Friends member Kris Weis. This year, the Friends have committed $50,000 to the construction of the new physician clinic attached to UnityPoint Health–Trinity Muscatine Hospital. To help them meet their goal, the Friends have a Tru Earth laundry strips fundraiser going on in the Window Box Gift Shop at UnityPoint Health–Trinity Muscatine Hospital at 1518 Mulberry Avenue in Muscatine.
As the Friends started planning their fundraising efforts, they wanted to find a unique product to sell unlike anything other organizations have available at the moment. They discovered Tru Earth laundry strips, a thin sheet of concentrated laundry detergent that dissolves in water without the need for big plastic jugs or heavy boxes of powdered detergent. Weis explained: “We were looking for something unusual that had not saturated the market. We were excited about its ‘greenness,’ and we liked that we could sell it both in person at the Window Box and via a web link.
For those interested in supporting the Friends’ fundraiser in person, they may come out the the Window Box Gift Shop Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. or Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. or 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Shoppers may purchase either two strip trial packs in either linen or unscented or in a 32 pack of unscented. The Window Box will also have reusable produce bags on sale as part of the fundraiser too. For those who prefer to shop online, the Friends have a link to their online store, where shoppers can purchase Tru Earth laundry strips in various sized packages as well as a variety of other reusable household products. The fundraiser will last at least as long as the Friends have Tru Earth laundry strips in stock in Muscatine.
Though the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has limited the Friends’ opportunities to hold fundraisers to support the new physician’s clinic and other projects to benefit UnityPoint Health–Trinity Muscatine Hospital, they have striven to do what they can. The friends continue to sell See’s Candy at Easter, Flaherty Candy in November, and hold a used book sale in Discovery Park in September. The Friends have also turned to online fundraising as well, selling Rada Cutlery.
The money raised from these activities allows the Friends to support each department in the hospital by making purchases to benefit their patients that they cannot afford in their regular budgets. Last year, the Friends donated $25,000 to UnityPoint Health–Trinity Muscatine departments to purchase items such as a new transport cart, a bedside spirometry device, additional wheelchairs, a portable vitals machine, a portable otoscope, and even new artwork to improve the look of the facilities.
Because of the many benefits a new physicians clinic will bring Muscatine, Weis hopes people will consider participating in the Friends’ laundry strip fundraiser: “A new building will address regulatory issues, improve spaces for existing providers, and improve recruitment of additional providers. It will allow for improved experience of patients.”
