Volunteers like Dolores Simmons-Hallmark don’t just seem like a part of the staff at UF Health Jacksonville – they seem like family.
Dolores felt a deep need to volunteer at the Clinical Center after her husband’s death. He had had a long battle with his illness and had to come to the Intensive Care Unit more than a dozen times.
“The nurses taught me to do so many things so I could have a part in taking care of him. I felt like I was one of them, and I wanted to give back,” she said. “I prayed about it and felt like this was where the Lord wanted me to be.”
With her bubbly personality, Dolores was a perfect fit for the Clinical Center gift shop. For more than 20 years, she has assisted the staff and customers with a bright smile on her face. Her favorite task is to deliver flowers and other gifts to patients, and then stick around to listen to them if they want to talk.
“I’ve enjoyed every bit of it,” she said.
Dolores was one of hundreds of volunteers honored by the hospital during National Volunteer Week, April 6-12. In the past year, more than 425 volunteers assisted in 50 different departments, visiting with patients, helping with clerical work, even rocking babies. Hundreds more donated handmade items to the hospital, including crocheted blankets, stuffed heart pillows, stuffed toys, crocheted infant blankets, caps and booties. The items serve as morale boosters for patients and their families, who take the items home at the end of their stay.
“This is a mission of love,” said UF Health Jacksonville CEO Russ Armistead.
“Our volunteers mean so much to us and do so much for us,” agreed director of Volunteer Services Tracy Torres.
Here are just a few of the volunteers UF Health Jacksonville is grateful for:
Peggy Wilchek
With her nursing background, retiree Peggy Wilchek has felt right at home for the past 25 years she has spent as a volunteer in the Emergency Department.
“I use my nursing brain and my nursing heart. Just not my nursing hands,” she said.
Peggy assists patients when they need help getting a drink or walking to the bathroom. She does laundry. She trains other volunteers. And one of her favorite tasks is simply putting pillowcases on the nurses’ stockpile of pillows.
“Something like that takes time, and that’s that much more time that the nurses can spend with their patients,” she said.
By the end of each day she volunteers, Peggy says she’s always learned something new herself, and she’s always helped to touch a patient’s life in a positive way.
“I go home tired, but my heart is so full,” she said.
Arlene Reed
Arlene Reed wanted to do something that made a difference in the community after she retired from her 35-year career with the federal government.
A friend told her about volunteering as a “grandparent” in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and she couldn’t wait to get started.
For 15 years, she has enjoyed volunteering in the unit. Arlene rocks babies, sings to them and plays with them. Her gentle, soft-spoken nature is perfect for the delicate patients she adores.
“I talk about my babies all the time,” she said.
Linda Lott
A kind woman who is easy to talk to, Linda Lott had always wanted to volunteer for something.
When she retired from her 32-year career, “I promised the Lord to volunteer and do more service,” she said.
She found her niche in the surgical waiting area at UF Health Jacksonville. She serves as a liaison between the patients’ families in the waiting rooms and the teams taking care of the patients in the pre-operation area and recovery room.
“The families want to know what’s up with the patients, and I am there to help them get information,” said Lott, who’s been volunteering at that post for 5 years.
Gloria Barlow
Gloria Barlow is one of many women who individually hand-make items for the hospital and donate them. In the 14 years since she retired, Gloria has made blankets, pillows, bags for children and bags for people to attach to their walkers. She knits hats for babies on a loom. She spends at least 10 to 12 hours on her projects every week.
Gloria comes to the hospital with four or five large bags of items she has made every two months, and she loves to see the nurses’ reactions.
“All the nurses always rush over to see what they can find for their babies,” she said.
The cost for materials can become an expense, Barlow said, but people often donate materials to her to help offset the cost.
“This is just fun,” she said. “I love to sew and crochet, but to me, it’s just knowing someone is going to get something out of that little bit I did.”
Binkies 4 Kids
Making as many as 1,000 quilts a year for the past decade, Binkies 4 Kids is one of many organized groups providing handmade items to the hospital.
“We’ve made everything there’s a need for – quilts, tote bags, Christmas stockings, stuffed animals,” group organizer Charlie Houtz said.
The group, which primarily supplies items for pediatrics and the NICU, includes just six people. Their financial support comes strictly through donations.
“Somehow it always comes together,” Houtz said.
She said one family was in a car accident on their way to Walt Disney World. Their son was given a Disney-themed quilt that helped cheer him up during his stay in the hospital.
“Each one of those quilts fulfills someone’s need,” Houtz said.
Highlands Baptist Church
Once a month, a group of about 20 ladies gets together at Highlands Baptist Church to cut, sew, crochet and take on other tasks to make bags of “goodies” for patients. Their repertoire includes heart pillows, crocheted blankets, baby caps, booties, lap robes and more.
“We make a pillow for children that looks like a round owl’s face, and they hold it against their chest so they won’t feel it when they cough or sneeze. The children love that,” said Mary Taylor, the church’s director for Women’s Ministry.
“When we bring our bags in, the staff meets us at the front door and they’re always just so excited. They start digging through the bags right away,” Taylor said.
How you can help:
To learn more about volunteering at UF Health Jacksonville, visit ufhealthjax.org/volunteer.