NEBRASKA CITY – Unpaid workers at Nebraska City Care and Rehabilitation received an Easter dinner from donations and are listed among the 1,650 nursing home workers in Nebraska who received paychecks this week through state intervention.
Tom Ross of Lady Bug BBQ said the idea of the meal arose while Easter Day approached and he and others were learning that workers at 21 nursing homes had not not been paid in weeks.
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Ross: “It was Easter, so that’s the season. You’re supposed to do something good for people. I made some phone calls. The lending institutions have been working with these people who haven’t been paid. Fareway and Moser’s USave stepped up and we just put together a dinner.”
The Omaha health care consulting firm Klaasmeyer & Associates was put in charge after the nursing homes alerted state officials March 23 that it could not meet payroll.
Ken Klaasmeyer said the response of employees and communities has been remarkable.
The Nebraska City donors also provided 50 Easter baskets for the workers’ children.
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Ross: “If you’re struggling to feed them, you know, Easter baskets are kind of an extra. So we went along and did all we could. It was pretty simple. It wasn’t anything big.”
Funds continue to come in from nursing homes’ usual sources Medicare, Medicaid and private payments.
Donors Reach Out To Unpaid Workers With Easter Dinner
