In spite of the rainy weather on Tuesday, employees from Columbia University Irving Medical Center and community members from Washington Heights attended an ice cream social on Haven Plaza, enjoying free frozen fruit or ice cream bars. Organized by the CUIMC Events team, which handed out 4,500 total fruit and ice cream bars, the employee appreciation event took place alongside the Fort Washington Greenmarket, where local vendors sell fresh produce, baked goods, honey, and more every Tuesday from June through late November.
CUIMC leadership including VP&S Dean and CUIMC CEO Katrina Armstrong, MD, handed out the ice cream and frozen fruit bars.
Dean Katrina Armstrong handed out ice cream and frozen fruit bars to CUIMC employees and members of the community.
Several other CUIMC initiatives had information tables during the event, including the CUIMC HR's Employee Resource Groups, ColumbiaDoctors, the Government & Community Affairs Medical Center Neighborhood Fund, and Velocity: Columbia's Ride to End Cancer. As part of employee appreciation efforts coinciding with the ice cream social, Velocity is waiving fees when employees register through Monday, July 24, with promo code ICECREAM23.
The event also featured live jazz music, and many employees who stopped for ice cream lingered to chat with colleagues.
Jazz musicians played at the ice cream social in front of the Columbia bookstore on Haven Avenue.
"I like that on my lunch break there's fun stuff to do and I can get outside," said Rabiah Borhan, a clinical research coordinator in the Department of Medicine at VP&S. "There's enough ice cream for everybody and the vibes are cool."
