MARCH 2011 ISSUE Message from the 2011 Auxiliary President

MARCH 2011 ISSUE
Message from the 2011 Auxiliary President
There are no words that truly capture or summarize all that The Children’s Hospital Auxiliary
accomplished in 2010. Thanks to you it was a truly incredible year! Within the pages of this
edition of The Volunteer Voice, you will find some incredible statistics from our 2010 Year-End
Summary. The amount of growth that we have experienced is simply unbelievable. Each and
every one of you play a pivotal role in the success of our organization, and I want to make sure
that you are properly recognized for all that you do for the Health System, the patients,
families, visitors and staff. We could not do it without you!
In addition to our unprecedented growth, we reached several significant milestones behind
the scenes during 2010. We made an impressive donation to the hospital, especially
Luke McCreless
considering the economic conditions that we continue to confront. We updated our Bylaws
Auxiliary President
for the first time in ten years. We gave the Auxiliary Gift Shop a facelift. The list could go on
and on, but there is one accomplishment that stands out among the rest. The Auxiliary,
along with Volunteer Services, worked through several strategic planning sessions and adopted a new mission statement
for our organization. I am thrilled to share with you our new mission statement - “Put Our Hearts to Work to Enhance
the Services and Mission of Children’s Health System By Serving the Children, Families and Visitors with Respect, Love
and Compassion.” This is much more than a just powerful statement. This is who we are – Hearts at Work. This is our
brand, if you will. As we enter into this new year, I want to encourage you to join me in embracing this idea in order to
transform our patients’ experience while at Children’s Hospital.
Bill Thomas, Luke McCreless and Chris Lawler
We have so much potential and momentum that I am convinced that 2011 is going to be an even greater year than
2010. With the construction of the new facility, the atmosphere at Children’s Hospital is electric and the energy is
contagious. I can’t wait to see what we accomplish this year, and I look forward to serving alongside you. Let this be the
year that we blaze new trails!
Thank you for your continuous gift of service!
Luke McCreless
1036 volunteers gave service in 2010.
This is a 22% increase over 2009.
In 2010 volunteers served 43,332 hours, or a FTE of 20.84.
This is an increase of 9,332 hours or 22% over 2009.
Letter from the 2010 Auxiliary President
Dear Volunteers:
I have had a wonderful 2 years as the Auxiliary President, and it was an honor to be able to serve the hospital
in that capacity. I have had the privilege of working with the amazing people in Volunteer services as well as
an outstanding group of Auxiliary volunteers. I have been constantly inspired and astounded by the generous
hearts I have seen at work in this hospital, and it is exactly those kind of hearts that you will see represented in
this year's Auxiliary Board.
I would now like to introduce and extend a welcome to the new 2011 Children's Hospital Auxiliary Board
officers! They are a dedicated and experienced group of volunteers who will be great assets to the hospital in
these positions. As Auxiliary Board officers, they will help plan and participate in many scheduled activities
(such as Auxiliary Fun Night and Parent's Night Out), and help coordinate other service and fundraising event.
It will be exciting to see the new directions they lead the Auxiliary in this year.
Best wishes and congratulations to the 2011 board!
-Stacy Huffman
2011 Children’s Hospital Auxiliary Board
President
Luke McCreless
Membership Officer
Bill Thomas
Fundraising Officer
Kayla Rourke
Activities/Special Events
Officer
Brittany Tate
Communications/Publicity
Officer
Chelsea McDow
Hospital In-service Officer
Martha Martuscelli
Secretary
Sarah Rath
Treasurer
Chris Lawler
Spring 2011 Teen Volunteers
By Lisa Howard
I am amazed at our awesome teen volunteers for the spring session! The spring session began Friday, January 21, 2011
and will end May 27, 2011.
We have thirty-three new teen volunteers and nineteen that are returning or continuing teens. They volunteer in areas
such as the Gift Shop, Information desk, Nursing units, ER, PACU, and one of the new areas is Infection Prevention &
Control.
I was very impressed with the essays and letters of recommendations of the new volunteers! All of the teens are
expressing positive attitudes and are eager to assist the patients, families, and staff here at Children’s Hospital! I am
looking forward to having a great spring program with them!
Face painting taking place in the new clinics over in
the Park Place building by Bonnie & Marsha
In the Spotlight!
The Tri-County Link, Inc sponsored Fun Night at the Harbor during February. We had 58 parents, patients and visitors
participate. Twenty-two volunteers were on hand to help with activities. Bonnie and Marsha did face painting, Myla had
the Karaoke machine singing and Melinda brought special crafts for the kids. Pizza served by the Tri-County Links Club
was enjoyed by all the guests as they played Bingo.
Gamma Sigma Service Sorority from Sam ford University held their annual Wheel-in/Wash-out during February.
This is the 4th year the service sorority has been to Children's to help with the wagons. Pictured with them is our new
Wagon Master Gray Scarborough who did a great job repairing and inspecting about 80 wagons, thanks
ladies and welcome aboard Gray.
The Communication Workers of America-Local 3902 sponsored Parents Night Out in February.
Even with the snow and another party going on in the Harbor we still had many parents visit and enjoy a meal while
playing bingo. Thanks CWA-Local-3902 for sponsoring and bringing a great group to serve the parents. Also a big thanks
to our volunteers and clowns for making the event happen.
Volunteer Kayla Rourke brought her UAB Sorority to Children’s Hospital during February so they could gather, clean and
fix the Radio Flyer wagons making them safe for the kids and parents to use. Kayla and about 14 friends cleaned
approximately 75 wagons and wheel chairs. We thank you very much!
The wagons are the #1 mode of transportation in the hospital for kids.
The Altamont School rocked it with karaoke and bingo at Fun night at Children's Harbor during January.
Volunteer Charles Cronin and some of his friends donated 10 Radio Flyer wagons to Children's Hospital. With the help of
the Cheese Cake Factory at the Summit, they ordered, assembled and painted the wagons for the kids to enjoy at the
hospital. Wagons are the #1 mode of transportation at Children's.
Kiwanis Club of Homewood Mountain
Brook sponsored Parents Night Out during
January. Very cold night to get out but
the parents really had a good time.
Thanks Kiwanis!
Sugar Plum Shop
Lisa Howard
Christmas is a really hard time to be in the hospital, especially for children! It is also stressful for the parents because
many times they are short on cash because of medical bills and being unable to go to work because their child is in the
hospital. To add to that stress they have to come up with a way to buy or shop for presents for their children in the
hospital and their siblings.
Fortunately, for the second year in a row, a little of that stress has been eliminated for the parents.
At Children’s Hospital, a shop is set up with donations from many organizations, individuals, and the community so
parents have the ability to provide gifts to their children for Christmas.
This year there were so many donations that they had to be transported by a big moving truck and stored in a secure
location until the shop could be set up for parents to shop.
Many volunteers and Child Life Services set up the Sugar Plum Shop on December 21, 2010. It looked almost like
walking into a department store. Toys, books, stuffed animals and all kinds of goodies were arranged according to age
of the children and then gender as the items reached teen’s age. Another room was set up for the gifts to be wrapped.
Starting December 22nd and December 23rd the Sugar Plum Shop opened for parents to be able to come in and shop free
to select gifts for their children that were patients in the hospital and their siblings. The parents would first walk into a
beautifully decorated store setting to select the gifts for their children, next they would be escorted by a volunteer to
the wrapping room. The parents were then escorted to the hospitality room, festively decorated with Christmas
decorations, lollipops and other welcoming sights. The hospitality room was where food, drinks, snacks, and a movie
was provided with a volunteer or staff greeting the parents for conversation or to be of assistance. The parents were so
grateful and said they “Wanted to be able to do this for other families next year.” Approximately, 165 patients received
gifts and 180 siblings. THANK YOU to all that made this a special Christmas for the patients, siblings, and parents. A
HUGE THANK YOU to all of the many volunteers (to many to name individually) that came and assisted with this project
as well as the Elf Depot. I know you received as much of a blessing as the families did from this special event. We can
never tell you as volunteers how much we appreciate your dedication, loyalty, and giving so freely and loving of your
time!
ANNUAL VOLUNTEER AWARDS
REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS
The Children’s Health System annual volunteer awards are a very public way to recognize the important work
volunteers perform at Children’s Health System. It takes compassion, commitment, innovation, trust and teamwork to
prove the finest pediatric health services — and volunteers play a key role in this process. Our annual volunteer awards
are intended to honor those individuals whose service has been exceptional in magnifying one or more of these values
while advancing the mission of Children’s Health System.
Nominations may be submitted in two categories, Volunteer of the Year or Clown of the Year. Nominees for the
awards must have contributed their service within Children’s Health System during calendar year 2010. Clowns may be
nominated in either or both categories. All nominations must be received by Friday, March 18th, 2011.
All nominees will be recognized at the Children’s Health System annual volunteer recognition event on Saturday,
April 16, 2011 in the Bradley Center.
H ap p i ness and d eep f u lf i l l ment comes when you
commi t you rsel f, f rom the v ery core of you r soul , to
sp end i ng you r hi ghest hu man tal ents on a p u rpose
that mak es a d i ff erence i n a person’ s l i fe.
— R ob i n Sharma
V olunteer Services Departm ent
AWARDS NOMINATION FORM
FOR
VOLUNTEER
OF THE
YEAR
AND
CLOWN
OF THE
YEAR
I. NOMINEE
Name of Nominee _____________________________________________________________________
Which category is this person being nominated (clowns may be nominated for both):
____ Volunteer of the Year
____ Clown of the Year
I I . N OM I N AT OR
Your Name ____________________________________________________________________________
Your Phone Number _______________
Email___________________________________________
Department (if you are a CHS employee) ________________________________________________
Your Signature ___________________________________________ Today’s Date _______________
I I I . REAS ON Y OU ARE N OM IN ATIN G T HIS PERS ON
Using a separate sheet of paper, please explain why you believe your nominee deserves the award for which
you are nominating him/her? Nominated individuals will be evaluated on the following criteria.
Activity/Achievement: The nominee’s actions/achievements should reflect the values of Children’s Health
System (compassion, trust, teamwork, innovation, commitment). Describe the activity/achievement,
specifying whether it has been on-going, short-term and one-time only activity.
Initiative/Innovation: The volunteer service should reflect service above and beyond the call of duty. It
should result in expanding/improving/ initiating a project, service or activity. It might represent new ideas,
solutions, approaches, collaborations, etc. It might reflect challenges the volunteer faced (e.g. physical or
mental handicaps; limited resources: public perception; other hardships) in the course of providing his/her
volunteer service.
Impact: The volunteer service should result in making an impact or difference to patients, clients, their
families, Children’s Health System, etc.)
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I V . SU BM I T T IN G A N OM I N AT I ON (DEADLI N E I S M ARCH 18,2011)
Submit application materials (this form and any other supporting documents) to:
Mail to:
OR
Hand Deliver to:
Children’s Health System
Volunteer Services Department
Volunteer Awards Committee
th
1600 7 Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35233
Volunteer Services Department
First Floor, Children’s Hospital
For more information, call 939-9797
Santa and his Elves
Lisa Howard
We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to Santa and
all of his elves for their help during the month of December! They spent many days bringing smiles to the faces of
patients and their siblings, as well as adults. Santa had a big chair that was in an area decorated with Christmas trees,
and cozy festive scenery. The elf’s tirelessly would assist the children in getting into Santa’s lap and then give them a gift
such as a beanie baby and gave many smiles and hugs! With much gratitude and thankfulness, we applaud these
wonderful volunteers! Thank you Santa,
for loving the children and putting up with them pulling on his beard. The following elves were here weekly and
sometimes more than once a week to assist and bring much joy to the children: Elf Jelly Bean, Elf Giggles, Elf
Peppermint, Elf Whistler, Elf Tootle Lou, Elf Dr. Boo Boo, Elf Pixie, Elf Gloie. These wonderful elves and Santa not
only serve in this role but help in so many other ways among serving as clowns in the hospital.
HELP FROM OUR COMMUNITY-CMC STEEL
Lisa Howard
Volunteer Services, would like to thank CMC Steel workers for taking time from their job and volunteering to develop
the pictures of Santa and the Elves with the children. Thanks to Kim Crane from Volunteer Services who oversaw all of
this to assist when the camera wasn’t working, batteries was dead or the printer decided it did not want to work. Phillip
Crane, Kim’s husband was a very vital part of this as well. A huge thank you to Phillip Crane, David Bynum, Scott Heath,
Dennis Butts, Chris Thomas, Jan Davis, Rick Wood, Michele Eason, Gavin Noel, Nick Gagliano, Mathew Sykes, Nena
Shoop, Jan Sparks, Michelle Bunn, Nathel DuBose, and Hong Tan for assisting with the Santa pictures and developing!
We hope it brightened your day as much as you brought a smile to a child! Thank you for taking time from your busy
schedule to come and help us!
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No Badge
Go Home
Everyone on our campus who is an employee or volunteer should be wearing a name badge. This is important! Think if
you were the parent of a child in the hospital, wouldn’t you want to know that everyone who came into the room had
been checked out and belonged there? So wear your name badge high and proud. If you don’t, you may be sent home
to get it. After all it is our policy.
MARK YOUR
CALENDARS!
Volunteer Voice is a publication for volunteers of
Children’s Health System.
To submit a story or story idea:
Call: 205.939.9797
Fax: 205.558.2080
E-mail: Howard.Holmes@chsys.org
Lisa.Howard@chsys.org
March 2011
10th
Parent’s Night Out, 6pm, Bradley
Lecture Center
21st Information Meeting for new volunteers
28th Auxiliary Fun Night at the Harbor, 6pm,
Children’s Harbor
1600 7th Avenue South
Birmingham, Alabama 35233
April 2011
14th
16th
19th
25th
DEPARTMENT PHONE DIRECTORY
Parent’s Night Out, 6pm, Bradley
Lecture Center
Volunteer Banquet for Service in 2010
Orientation for new volunteers
Auxiliary Fun Night at the Harbor, 6pm,
Children’s Harbor
Department Director
Volunteer Services Office
Gift Shop
Patient Information
www.chsys.org
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939.9696
939.5199
939.9295
939.9111