The Rapid Relief Team is preparing nurses day appreciation events across North America throughout May 2026, with volunteers set to work alongside hospitals and healthcare facilities from Vancouver to New York. The effort will reach 15 locations and is built around hot meals, refreshments and coffee for nurses and hospital staff.
Wes Macdonald, the group’s N.A. operations manager, said International Nurses Day is “an important opportunity to recognize the vital role nurses play in communities across North America.” He added, “Our volunteers are hoping to say thank you in a meaningful way by providing a meal, a moment of rest, and a reminder that their work does not go unnoticed.”
May 12 and May 2026
The events are being held in recognition of International Nurses Day on May 12, 2026, but the schedule stretches across the full month. Across the 15 locations, 500 RRT volunteers are expected to serve more than 10,000 meals to nurses and hospital staff. The 2026 theme for International Nurses Day is Empowered Nurses Save Lives.
Dr. Tomas Kaufman, a doctor at Lakeshore General Hospital in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, said, “This is a tremendous gesture to make the staff feel better, in recognition of all they do.” He added, “We are getting more and more patients, and there are difficult times, but the staff are just incredible and dedicated.”
RRT's wider volunteer network
The May program follows a larger record from 2025, when RRT teams in 10 countries provided 43,500 moments of appreciation across more than 100 events supported by 1,350 volunteers. RRT says it has a global network of over 16,500 volunteers and was established in 2013 by the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.
For nurses and hospital staff, the practical result is direct: meals, coffee and rest breaks are being delivered at the hospital level across a month-long schedule, rather than in a single one-day event. The scale of the plan suggests the effort will be spread across multiple shifts and sites, with each location receiving support from local RRT volunteers and partner facilities.
