Two workers at separate Sun Mar Healthcare facilities walked into work one day in late October for their regular shifts.
Later, they were able to drive away in brand new automobiles after being selected as the latest winners in their employer’s car giveaway campaign.
Joel Villegas, a certified nursing assistant at Sierra View Care Center in Baldwin Park, CA, and Rushell Jones, a housekeeper at Mission Carmichael Healthcare Center in Carmichael, CA, each received a new Chevy Trailblazers after winning the company’s raffle.
The car giveaway is a 15-year tradition for Sun Mar, but the operator got a little creative this year for the annual campaign. Employees only qualified for the raffle of the two trucks and other prizes if they were vaccinated against COVID-19.
Villegas, an 11-year veteran of the company, and Jones, a 20-year veteran, both shed tears of joy and were met with cheers, hugs and applause from their co-workers after learning they had won the raffle. Villegas never owned a car before winning, while Jones described the day as simply overwhelming.
“I love working at Mission Carmichael because it feels like home and the residents are like family,” Jones told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.
“I was surprised and overwhelmed the day I won the car. I’ve never won anything like that before,” she added.
The car giveaway was the third Sun Mar conducted within the last 10 months. It handed out two SUVs to lucky employees in December 2020 and January.
“The company feels it is not enough to just protect its dedicated staff workers: It must celebrate them as well,” a company spokesman said in a statement. “These are just some of the many appreciation events hosted for all of Sun Mar Healthcare’s employees.”
