One Gift For A Group Of People. Ideas?

December 20, 2016 9:59 AM

So I am on dialysis and I wanted to get a gift for the specific group of technicians that service me 3 times a week. The obvious answer is a gift basket but I was hoping to come up with something a bit more clever/interesting. There are 7 in total and my budget is $100. Ideas?
posted by chartreuse to Grab Bag (16 answers total)

I think people at work love to get a nice lunch. Is there a place that delivers near by? You could give them a gift cert and a menu.
posted by ReluctantViking at 10:13 AM on December 20, 2016 [6 favorites]

For that many people, and a $100 budget, I would say stick with a nice gift basket. You will get the most "bang for your buck" that way.
posted by Hanuman1960 at 10:13 AM on December 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

I was just now hunting the internet with the same question! Some ideas I'm considering for my own techs and nurses:

- A stack of coffee gift cards (my techs are super-caffeinated for 12-hour days)
- A pizza/sandwich gift card big enough for the whole group to get delivery (assuming they're all there at the same time... mine have varying schedules), or cards for the sandwich shop down the block

Or go individual. With your budget, I'd go to REI and pick up seven of these emergency lanterns. $15 each. I have one at home and it's (literally) brilliant for emergencies, camping, keeping in the car, etc. Small and useful. A nice and handy safety thing for the people who save our lives three times a week.

I have 24 techs, nurses, and support people at my center, and a similar budget. I am baffled on how to do that many.
posted by mochapickle at 10:15 AM on December 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

The dialysis center might have a policy against allowing technicians to accept gifts from patients, so I'd suggest checking on that before bringing in anything besides food.
posted by FencingGal at 10:28 AM on December 20, 2016 [5 favorites]

FencingGal has a good point. This is my first year and I'm not sure how it goes at my particular center (although I had a parent go through this at a smaller center and they'd bring in holiday dish towels and oven mitts, that sort of thing... this was 20 years ago). I'm going to bring in super-fancy cupcakes from a local bakery. My center has a rule of not accepting home-baked goods.
posted by mochapickle at 10:33 AM on December 20, 2016

Edibles are the way to go. My wife will regularly buy a nice box of hand made chocolates for the staff when she's helping a client (she does birth work) at the hospital.
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:41 AM on December 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Hospital staff get a lot of food items, some not so healthy. My nurse told me she loved unusual things like movie passes and really good hand lotions which are both useful and fun.
posted by HeyAllie at 10:45 AM on December 20, 2016 [4 favorites]

Edible Arrangements make nice bouquets of fresh fruit. A pretty alternative to fancy chocolates or cupcakes or something.
posted by ChuraChura at 10:49 AM on December 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

I think Edible Arrangements would be great. Or a sandwich platter (make your own perhaps?). Zoup is popular around here and they deliver pots of soup.

I think a group gift to be enjoyed together would be nicer than individual, but you could get $15 gift cards for coffee (Starbucks?)
posted by Ftsqg at 11:14 AM on December 20, 2016

My dad's been a dialysis patient for years. Occasionally he brings in a ton of sandwich stuff -- cold cuts, different breads, condiments, etc. -- along with sodas and other drinks, coleslaw, chips and snacky stuff. The staff sets it up in the back room and has a nice lunch. (Several lunches, actually -- he brings in so much that they have leftovers for days.) I'm not sure how much it sets him back, but I doubt it's more than $100.

Yesterday he showed up with one of those ridiculously large Whitman's chocolate boxes. Now and then he'll bring in a box of donuts or cookies. On his birthday he brings in a cake.

He is everyone's favorite patient at his dialysis center.
posted by QuickedWeen at 11:28 AM on December 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Never heard of Zoup. That sounds interesting (pots of soup? Delivered?!?), unfortunately, they haven't made it to NYC yet.

It seems like I will be going the basket route or some coffee gift cards (everybody drinks coffee.) This is my first year also so I don't know the rules. My usual plan is to ask for forgiveness instead of permission but maybe I should check on what the protocol is. I'ld hate to be called into an office and have my gifts handed back to me!
posted by chartreuse at 11:35 AM on December 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've been giving a lot of pop sockets this year and they have been a huge hit. $10 each and So Useful.
posted by fshgrl at 11:41 AM on December 20, 2016

OK, my new idea (instead of cupcakes) is bringing in a big ol' basket of Burts Bees lip balms and people can just take one if they want them. I live in an arid state and lip balms are necessary for survival.

And chartreuse, stay in touch... I started in July and need more internet ESRD friends to compare notes ... :)
posted by mochapickle at 11:43 AM on December 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

In a similar situation with rotating staff, I took a basket and filled it with bottles of hand lotion for the staff (some girly and some unscented/generic for the guys and those who don't like scents). Between the cold, dry weather and their constant hand washing and hand sanitizer everyone has dry hands these days. Bath and Body Works has good deals on multiples and has lots of types of lotion.
posted by maxg94 at 11:48 AM on December 20, 2016 [5 favorites]

As a nurse my favorite gift was one of those edible arrangements of fresh fruit! It was a great snack and so nice to have something healthy with all the candy, cookies, etc that gets brought in around the holidays.
posted by newsomz at 1:27 PM on December 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

I don't have a specific idea, but wanted to say that if you're getting edibles, please try to check for allergies in advance. It's hard to be the allergic person who doesn't get to enjoy the treat.
posted by bile and syntax at 7:38 PM on December 20, 2016 [1 favorite]