They're priceless

This morning I went by the family waiting desk in the General operating room on my way for my first surgical case of the day. As always I was greeted by Buddy and Linda two of our volunteers. Their last names are both Kaufman, fancy that. For surgeons they perform a vital job, caring for the family members during the time their loved ones are in surgery. You can imagine the stress that these families undergo. Will it turn out ok? Will the biopsy be benign? Will they get it all? In the OR time flies. In the family waiting area time is at dead slow. The clock barely moves. Our volunteers reassure the families throughout and when the operations end they escort the families into a private room where they can meet with the surgeon to discuss the outcome.

Years earlier I told someone in our administration that this job was one of the most important jobs in the medical center. I even said that it was too important to be left to volunteers. Boy was I wrong. This position takes caring and understanding. That’s something that’s hard to pay for, but comes naturally from a GBMC volunteer.

Last Friday, as I stood on the podium at the volunteer luncheon, I couldn’t help but marvel at the sight. The room was filled with over three hundred and fifty volunteers. My first thought was “I hope the hospital is ok, because everyone Is here”. GBMC Healthcare is blessed. At the hospital we have 466 active volunteers who gave 95,749 hours last year. That amounts to nearly two million value-added dollars. They work in 80 departments throughout the hospital and have raised millions of dollars over the years. At Gilchrist Hospice Care we have 325 volunteers who donated 17,858 hours, 6% of all patient care hours.

As we honored Mary Pat Marzullo, as she retires from her position as Director of Volunteer Services and Rodica Johnson, President of the Volunteer Auxiliary and Debbie Jones, Volunteer Services Manager of Gilchrist Hospice Care spoke, I couldn’t help but marvel. I know that nearly all hospitals have volunteers, but do they have this? I don’t think so. This is way beyond over the top.

I left the group with some quotes about volunteers and giving back, which I share with you now.

Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer. ~Author Unknown

Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him. ~Albert Schweitzer

Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless, but because they're priceless. ~Sherry Anderson

It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference. ~Tom Brokaw

Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart. ~Elizabeth Andrew

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention. ~Oscar Wilde

How far that little candle throws his beams!

So shines a good deed in a weary world

David Seltzer for the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (adapted from W. Shakespeare)

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. ~Mark Twain

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. ~William James

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. ~Dr. Seuss

I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ~Edward Everett Hale

Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. ~Author Unknown

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. ~Nelson Henderson

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill

God has not called us to see through each other, but to see each other through. ~Author Unknown

Things of the spirit differ from things material in that the more you give the more you have. ~Christopher Morley

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you

truly give. ~Kahlil Gibran

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You need

to be able to throw something back. ~Maya Angelou

Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.... You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thank you volunteers!