Local
St. Paul School, Hingham, sends sweet treats to medical workers
By Jacqueline Tetrault Pilot Staff
Posted: 5/1/2020
South Shore Hospital staff receive their "sweet treat" during their shift. Courtesy photo
HINGHAM -- On April 17, Jennifer Knobloch prepared over 175 cupcakes of different flavors. This in itself was not unusual: Knobloch is the director of food services at St. Paul School in Hingham. But instead of selling the treats to students, as she usually does once a week during the school year, she delivered them, along with messages of gratitude, to the staff of South Shore Hospital.
Knobloch said she was inspired by the restaurants and small businesses that have been giving food or donations to hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This really made my heart happy to have a chance to share, in a simple way, how much we appreciate all the staff at South Shore Hospital are doing to care for our community," Knobloch said in an April 24 interview.
She decorated the cupcakes and their cardboard containers with red hearts, "to show our love."
She also put the St. Paul School crest on the boxes, along with a message: "Thanks for keeping us all safe!"
She had help from the hospital's philanthropy officer of major gifts, Katie Puzo, who graduated from St. Paul School in 1994. Knobloch contacted Puzo to make sure it was alright to bring the cupcakes, and then met her at the hospital doors wearing a mask and gloves.
Knobloch has been a St. Paul School parent for 21 years (her four children went through the school). She often handled hospitality-related jobs for the PTO, and was then asked to devise the lunch program. She has worked at the school for 14 years.
With school cancelled for the rest of the year to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Knobloch said she misses "that human contact with the kids," but has been finding ways to stay connected with the St. Paul School community. She makes videos about cooking and gardening, which the school shares through its social media each week.
After Knobloch dropped off the cupcakes, Puzo sent her pictures of hospital staff members, and even the CEO of South Shore Hospital, eating her cupcakes.
"It just made you feel good that you could do such a small part, but to show them that we really appreciate what they're doing," Knobloch said.
