Hospital auxiliary helps seniors give back
For the senior citizens who make up much of the membership of the Butler Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, retirement isn't the end of their working lives, it's the start of a new chapter.
And there are a lot of new chapters that start each year.
The group has 240 members — about 170 active — and the majority are senior citizens. The group receives dozens of applications each year from people interested in becoming members.
That's because of a simple fact: volunteering is one of the best ways for senior citizens and retirees to stay active, engaged and help their community.
“It's a great way to meet a whole different group of friends,” said Kay Huemme, the auxiliary president. “I think people come here because it fills in a time in their life. They still want to be viable and support (the community).”
Huemme, 69, has been with the group for 32 years and spends her volunteer hours working in the hospital's gift shop with her friend, Ginny Johnson.
Johnson got Huemme involved with the auxiliary in the first place, and the pair still works their 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. shifts together in the shop. They contribute their time to the 19,835 volunteer hours the group spent working in the hospital last year.
Connie Downs, a hospital's spokesman, said volunteers are ubiquitous at Butler Memorial and donate time in “just about every department.” That includes Johnson and Huemme's work in the gift shop to senior citizens like Joanne Nolsheim of Butler, who helps advise the auxiliary's younger counterparts — the Candystripers — to Theresa Keller, 77, of Butler, who volunteers in the outpatient surgery department.
Keller, who has been with the group for about 12 years, said she enjoys working with patients who visit the hospital for procedures. She is responsible for interacting with patients before their appointments, helping them prepare for their surgical procedures and even comforting those worried about what will happen.
She previously volunteered in the hospital's radiology department and said she decided to seek out the auxiliary because she wanted to have a positive impact with people
“I've met some awfully nice people. Some of them are sad cases, you know, but they are very, very nice people,” Keller said. “I love it that way.”
She said some are scared about their surgical procedures, but she tries to impart a sense of well-being and calm when she speaks with them.
“You kind of talk to them and tell them it's going to be OK,” she said. “You listen to what they have to say, and some of them you can relate to — maybe you've had the same procedure and can reassure them.”
For Nolsheim, like Huemme, it was friendship that drew her into the auxiliary. She said many senior citizens are proud of the hospital's vibrant volunteer community, which includes about 40 Candystripers in addition to the auxiliary's membership.
Last year, the Candystripers donated about 4,700 volunteer hours to the hospital — a point of pride for Nolsheim and other group advisers.
She said the hospital is her favorite place to spend her time volunteering, mostly because of the time she spends interacting with the younger volunteers, who work in nearly every hospital department.
“They are so well-behaved; wonderful manners,” Nolsheim said. “They're a great group of kids.”
Nolsheim, who also works in the hospital's gift shop, said she, like many other senior citizens and retirees, found purpose in volunteerism.
“I planned on volunteering ... and that's what I've done. I keep very busy doing that,” she said. “I definitely want to help people and be active. That was my purpose after I retired — to help wherever I could help.”
