It's no secret our economy is awful right now. The stock market tanked, the real estate bubble finally burst, and worst of all, the vendors didn't have freebies for Lab Week!

Yes, this rotten economy even affected our beloved National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week. Traditionally, we have been dependent on vendors to provide food and free prizes during our celebrations. This year, though, they didn't have the big expense accounts to provide great lunches or the freebies to give away. What would that mean for Lab Week?

At first, we were thinking no food and no prizes would essentially cancel Lab Week. But we like our one week of fun and decided to take matters into our own hands. I think we are surprised to say Lab Week 2009 was one of the best ever. How did we do it? 

Each department adopted a day, with employees providing the meals or snacks, decorations and even some prizes. We all had a great time socializing and consuming some amazing food. We had a homemade Italian lunch that was outrageous. We had fantastic breakfasts not once, but twice, with quiches, Amish sweet rolls, fruit and muffins to give us a good start to the day. We had deli sandwiches and southern desserts to get us through the mid-week slump.

Lab Week wrapped up on Friday with phlebotomy creating a mock tiki bar, offering up tasty afternoon treats of smoothies and shakes, complete with miniature umbrellas. Our oncologist even joined us for a little snack. (Well, he DID make a special trip to the lab just to wish us a Happy Lab Week!)

Throughout the week, several employees completed the "Guess that Logo" game and filled out the "What Cartoon Character Are You?" quiz, just for fun.

Luckily, we still had a few dollars left over from last year's party fund to buy gift cards to various stores and restaurants for prizes.  Some of the décor from the week, like plants and flowers, were also used as awards, and many departments held drawings for daily gift bags.

Lab techs are generous people, and our crew is no exception. We decided to include a service project as part of Lab Week, so we adopted our Community Living Center (CLC). Spring had sprung here in the mountains, and the CLC staff had a beautification/gardening project planned for the residents to plant flowers and help decorate the facility. Using their wish list as a guide, we collected around $200, and were able to present the CLC with six flats of flowers, a couple of ferns and several gorgeous geraniums. They were delighted with their gift, and we will be reminded of it every time we visit the CLC.

In the past, we traditionally expected others to pat us on the back for a job well done during Lab Week. This year, we patted each other on the back, pulled together as a group, gave back to the community and created a feeling of cohesion and unity that had been somewhat lacking in our little corner of the hospital.

Thank you, Wall Street. You just reminded us what makes Lab Week really wonderful -- us!

--Beth Ingersoll, MT(ASCP),
Charles George VA Medical Center,
Asheville, NC