National health care volunteer week commemorates it’s 44th year of existence on April 15th. Former President Richard Nixon established National Volunteer Week with an executive order in 1974, as a way to recognize and celebrate the efforts of volunteers. Every sitting U.S. president since Nixon has issued a proclamation during National Volunteer Week (as have many U.S. mayors and governors).
Here in Humboldt, the St. Joseph Eureka volunteers are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and have displayed historical posters in the lobby of the groups’ storied history. Area manager of volunteer services, Sarah Senestraro, says next week is the perfect time to thank a volunteer for their service!
To be a volunteer, it takes:
- Generosity, a willingness to give your time to others
- Understanding, because their lives might be very different from your own
- Empathy, an ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and feel what they must feel
- Compassion, to truly care about making someone else’s life better
- Patience, because the process doesn’t always go as smoothly as it might want it to
- Dedication, to stick with the project and see it through
Don’t forget about the Junior volunteers, too! Last week, these enterprising and thoughtful future leaders celebrated the “beginning” of spring by visiting the St. Joseph Eureka New Beginnings Maternity Center. Nurse director of obstetrics, Karen Lewis, along with nurse, Melissa Shockey, gave the young volunteers a tour of the department.
Thanks to all of our amazing volunteers who continue to make St. Joseph Health, Humboldt County an extraordinary place to work and be cared for!