Helping Hands

S V M H

Volunteer Services Newsletter Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Thanks to Marianne Horwitz, Susan Castro, Mary Gallo and Debby Tack for stepping up to the plate and providing a combined total of 56 hats for our Cancer Patients.

Gift Shop

2

Community Outreach

2

Service League Update

3-4

Public Relations & Membership

5-6

Nominating Committee

7

Museum News

7

Birthdays / Hours & Awards

8

Volunteer Services 450 E. Romie Lane Salinas, CA 93901

Phone: 831-755-0772 Fax: 831-753-6297 [email protected] Office Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm

We also want to THANK Jean Himes for the bags and bags of colorful yarn she donated to this effort! If you would like to become involved in this continued effort please call the Volunteer Services Office at 831-755-0772.

It’s time to start working on replenishing our supply of Red Hats that are given to newborns who are born during the month of December. Last year we gave over 150 red hats. We currently have 68 on hand. We need at least 100 more red hats to meet the yearly demand. If you are interested in knitting these red hats, please come by the Volunteer Services Office to pick up a pattern and materials.

Magazine donations are greatly appreciated and can be dropped off in the Volunteer Services Office Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. If you are unable to come during these times, please drop them off with the Concierge between 7:30 am to 8:00 pm 7 days a week.

Volunteers are needed in the following services: Gift Shop— Please contact Barbara Berg, Gift Shop Manager, at 759-1812. Lifeline Installers — Call Pat Heyne or Rosemary Tarp at 755-0788 for more information. Museum Docents and/or Community Outreach—Please call the office at 755-0736 for details.

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Gift Shop Can you believe it!!! Half the year is gone and you know what that means! Christmas

is just around the corner. If

you are someone who makes up Christmas stockings for others, now is the time to start thinking about what you will put inside of them. We have mini flashlights, bling pencils, purse holders, and a lot more goodies that will not break the bank$$$. Our baby department is doing well especially items from Mud Pie. Pink & blue is the theme in the case next to the Cafeteria. I wish I had such cute outfits when I was little. Thank you to Phyllis Aitken, Eddy Munoz (twice), Anne Pauley, Agnes Cassina, Mar Seidel, Faye Schumacher, Miriam Mull, Julie Ryan, Rekha Rajkumar, Julia Orozco, and Pauline Monteith for taking care of employees at the art sale. We have a tentative sale in August, the leather sale will be September 6 & 7, Season’s Best October 15 – 21 (20% off all Christmas items) the $5.00 sale November 7, 8 & 9 and See’s candy sale December 7th. Have a GREAT summer!!! Submitted by, Barbara Berg Gift Shop Manager

Thanks For Asking At the Service Leagues’ 60th anniversary luncheon, I was asked what does the Community Outreach Committee do? Well, besides looking sharp in our blue blazers and new anniversary pins, Community Outreach Volunteers mix it up. Community Outreach Volunteers are present at SVMH sponsored events open to the public. We distribute pertinent literature and support the nurses, who are taking blood pressure and body mass index. Volunteers greet and confirm registrations. SVMH is often asked to participate at health fairs. We staff the booth and distribute literature, encourage volunteerism, and educate as best we can about the hospital in general and the many specialized programs offered through SVMH. Career fairs are a new avenue for community outreach. Our job is to encourage strong interest in the sciences and math. Educate the students about the wide variety of health related careers and clarify the level of education needed to have such a career. All venues give us the opportunity to promote the excellent care and programs that are available through SVMHS. Sometimes we volunteer solo at a booth but usually we prefer to work in tandem or with a group. Long shifts are often shared. A few hearty individuals take on an entire event with confidence. The community outreach opportunities are held during the week and weekends. The schedule is flexible and on call. The variety makes it so much fun. I encourage you to consider joining the Community Outreach Team you’ll be glad you did. Contact the Volunteer Services Office and I will be in touch.

Submitted by, Diane Downey Vice President Community Outreach

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Service League Board President’s Update I would like to start today by expressing my Thanks to the Committee who worked so diligently on the 60th Anniversary Celebration. Anne Pauly, Chairperson, Pauline Monteith, Sandy Battisti, and Jan Quintero. They worked hard to make it all happen. I also want to thank the members who attended, everyone seemed to enjoy the location, a special program honoring the past presidents of the League, and the DJ from Kool Inc, who played great music from the 1950’s. In addition to the wonderful luncheon, the hospital is commemorating the 60th Anniversary by creating a Service League flag and a plaque. The flag will fly under the hospital flag on special occasions, and the plaque will be on display in the Volunteer Services Office. Hope you all enjoy the anniversary pin with the diamond for the 60th. Wear it with pride. It will soon be time to start planning for the fall luncheon; we would love to have input from you, the membership, on what kind of a program you would like at the next luncheon. Come volunteer to be on the planning committee, we need fresh ideas, and remember, the luncheons are in appreciation for the many hours of service you, the members donate to the hospital. The Service League Board met on June 13. Jim Griffith, Chief Operating Officer, gave an update on the time line for a decision by the Board on a merger, or acquisition of the hospital. This gave Board members a chance to ask questions to better understand the reason for the many changes we are seeing in the hospital and community. The Nominating Committee is still in search of volunteers to join the leadership team. As I stated at the luncheon, the League is in serious jeopardy of being dissolved if we are unable to fill the slate of officers for 2012. We are inviting any volunteer who is interested to step forward now. We must have the slate of officers complete by the Board meeting on September 12. Call Joanne Powers (Nominating Committee Chair) or talk to Shannon or any of the members of the Board. It is a huge responsibility to manage the activities of the League, such as Lifeline, Telecare, Gift Shop, Medical Museum, scholarships, summer camps, and many more, but it is also very rewarding. The Board has appointed coordinators for all of the services. The coordinators will be meeting in July to map out a plan to recruit individuals to act as a representative for each service. The plan is to have group meetings for each service to keep all volunteers updated on Policies and Standing Rules, what is happening in the hospital. It will give you the opportunity to meet other volunteers who work in the same service. A time for you to share with others what works well or what does not work for you. Wouldn’t it be fun to get to know the volunteers who do the same job as you?

Continued on the next page...

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Service League Board President’s Update continued... I do hope you will all be enjoying the summer, and we do appreciate those of you who continue to fill your shifts to enhance patient care and patient satisfaction. You are important to our hospital. A special word of thanks to those of you who gave so generously in response to our letter of request for contributions in honor of our anniversary. We received donations to enhance many of our programs, such as Lifeline, Asthma Camp, Emergency Room Expansion, Pet Therapy, and Medical Museum. Your contributions are greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your continued support. Respectfully submitted: Virginia Shannon Service League President Life is a Journey are you enjoying the ride?

A special word of Thanks for all of you who gave so generously to the Appeal for contributions in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the Service League. We received donations to enhance many of our programs, such as Lifeline, Asthma Camp, Emergency Room, and Medical Museum. Giving together we can make a difference. Thank you for your continued support. The Service League Board

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Public Relations and Membership For those of you that could not attend our 60th Anniversary of the Service League very special event, we missed you! The 60th Anniversary of the Service League (1952 – 2012) was celebrated with a luncheon held at the Pasadera Country Club on May 31st. We had a great time in a beautiful large dining room overlooking the golf course. We could not have asked for better weather; it was absolutely beautiful! As we entered the clubhouse, the few tables lining the walls of the hallway were decorated with colorful balloons and flowers. In addition, numerous scrapbooks from the past years of the Service League were placed on these tables for all to enjoy. The individual dining tables were decorated with musical notes, records from the 1950’s and small rosebushes. At each place setting for the Service League attendees was a very special beautiful pin that indicated the 60th Anniversary (1952 – 2012) that we can, as volunteers, proudly wear on our uniforms. There were several of us who dressed up in the 1950’s era (poodle skirts, sweater sets with scarves, rolled up jeans, leather jackets, etc.) and in addition, a number of us brought pictures of ourselves taken back in the early 1950’s. It was fun to see if you could recognize the persons in the pictures which was quite challenging in most cases! The large buffet was outstanding and enjoyed by all. The DJ, Kevin, who played the 50’s music for our event seemed to fit right in. I think he enjoyed it as much as we did. Jim Gattis, President of the Hospital Board, kept it light and funny by giving a very enjoyable speech comparing what items used to cost in the early 1950’s and what they cost today, and included pictures of the trends of style in those days. Wow! Jim Griffith, Chief Operating Officer, gave us a brief update of where the hospital stands today and the different options that they are considering. Tiffany recognized each of the eight past presidents of the Service League that were in attendance with an introduction of each one, the years that they served as president and their accomplishments during that time. Each past president was handed a long stemmed rose presented by Jim Gattis. We were so honored to have all eight past presidents in attendance! A special thanks to everyone that worked so hard to make this a perfect day! PINS: I am sorry for those of you that were not able to attend this important event. I am sure you would have enjoyed it. Please stop by the Volunteer Services Office to pick up your 60th Anniversary pin from Cynthia. Continued on the next page...

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Public Relations and Membership continued... Note: The next business luncheon for the Service League will be held in October. You will be notified of the date and place at a later time. Please consider working on a committee to help with the many details of planning. We would love to have your ideas and support. Meetings: Arita, Pauline and I attended the CCCC annual/general meeting held by Dominican Hospital on May 1st at the Sea Cliff Inn in Aptos. Each hospital that was represented brought a large basket of goodies to be auctioned off. Other: I worked with several other volunteers to help out with the $5 sales on May 3rd and May 4th. There was a great turnout of people to shop for the bargains the hospital staff as well as many neighbors and friends from the surrounding area. This turned out to be the very best sale ever. I assisted a few other volunteers and some of the staff to stuff bags (t-shirts, flyers, etc.) at the Health Promotions Office for the runners that had registered for the 5 & 10K Heart & Sole Race. I also assisted at the race. It was nice to see such a good turnout of neighbors, families and friends joining in the fun. If you haven’t helped out before, think about it for next year; it really is fun and you get to meet so many different people. Note: If any of you have an interest or desire to be a Service League Board Member and/or serve in some manner, please contact one of us. We would be more than happy to answer any of your questions. Several of us on the Board are coming to the end of our terms and we would be very glad to assist anyone interested in learning what the expectations are, etc.

A message for all of us VOLUNTEERS in these days of ongoing changes: You Make Life Good. Sure, luck and money can ease our troubles. But it’s people like you who really make a difference. Your light-up-a-room smile, big heart, sound advice, steady friendship, and clever solutions to sticky problems all count more than you realize. Every day is better because of you! Submitted by,

Anne Pauly President Elect-Public Relations & Membership

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Nominating Committee The Nominating Committee consists of five volunteers who have been meeting to propose a slate of nominees for the Service League for the year 2013. The position needed to be filled is President Elect. At the present time the Vice President of Community Outreach, Diane Downey and Vice President of Membership, Anne Pauly, have agreed to stay on in their respective offices for the year 2013. The President Elect’s position requires leading the Service League and represents the League to the membership, hospital and community. The President also attends the hospital’s Foundation meetings during the term of office and works closely with the Director of Volunteers in supporting the goals of the Service League and its various functions at the hospital. The Nominating Committee is asking for any nominations for the Board from its membership. If you have an idea of someone you would like to be considered for the Board, please contact the Nominating Committee Chairperson Joanne Powers at 455-1309. If you have any questions on the matter, please feel free to ask. Submitted by, Joanne Powers, Chairperson and Nominating Committee Members Marianne Horwitz, Phyllis Aitken, Rosemary Kingston and Chris Georgalos

Museum News The Medical Museum has successfully completed its tours for the 2011/12 school year. We had a full schedule with 294 students from grades second to fifth grade participating in the on-site museum tours and 94 students from Creekside Elementary School participating in the House Call program. We have also had volunteers express interest in becoming docents. The docents have a great time working with the students. It’s great watching a child become interested in the information about the history of medicine in our valley. We have also had students express an interest in the field of medicine as a career. With every tour, we give the teacher a packet of follow-up activities and an evaluation sheet. I am happy to say we have received a lot of positive feedback. It is very evident that our tour has become a popular field trip with area schools. Word has gotten out that we are a true learning experience for the students of Salinas. Submitted by, Jannon Quintero Coordinator of Community Service

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June 06-01 06-03 06-06 06-08 06-14 06-14 06-16 06-27 06-28 06-30 06-30 06-30 06-30

Elina Smith Edith Beninate Deborah Devita Miriam Shepard Salvador Dominguez Merle Fraser Maria Vera Jennifer Rodriguez Cortez Ursula Benedict Nancy Cortelyou Melisa Maniulit Petra Rangel Camille Stiltner

July 07-01 07-03 07-06 07-13 07-14 07-14 07-21 07-23 07-26 07-26 07-28

Rosemary Kingston Natalie Saldana-Rivera Marisa Fernandez Miriam Mull Tristan Hankard Destiny Rodriguez Alisha Moreno Em Netzly Jose Jimenez Noel Lapitan Neal Liebig

August 08-03 08-09 08-10 08-11 08-12 08-13 08-14 08-16 08-16 08-17 08-25 08-25 08-25 08-27 08-29 08-30 08-30 08-31

Terry Espinoza Beverly Reinhardt Bob McGregor Lorene Wilson Eduardo Munoz Pam Reese Evan Aceves Michelle Lee Alex Oh Chaelon Kile Pamela Abercrombie Connie Hess Philip Yoon Mira Patel Debra Johnson Molly Nuki Luiz Perez Blanca Rangel

Congratulations to the following volunteers who have achieved special recognition for their hours of service:

100 Hours

700 Hours

Kathleen Bianchini Susan Castro Julia Chavarin Peter Cryer Bianca Flor Alyssa Ferrell Christian Hernandez Margo Lopez Amy O’Brien Petra Rangel Miriam Shepard Kathy Nguyen

Pam Abercrombie Mary Gallo

500 Hours

6,000 Hours

Jean McGregor

2,500 Hours Julia Orozco

3,000 Hours Virginia Shannon

5,500 Hours Pat Garlinger

Veronica Polovneff Joanne Powers

Note: Please give us until the end of next week to receive your pin. Where to Pick Up Your Pin: Gift Shop Volunteers, please see Barbara Berg, Gift Shop Manager. Adult Volunteers will receive pins from Annie McCarthy or via regular mail. Student Volunteers will receive them via mail. If you do not receive your pin, please call the Volunteer Services Office. Note: Pins are awarded as you reach one of the following categories: 100 Hours 300 Hours 500 Hours 700 Hours 1,000 Hours After you reach 1,000 hours, it jumps to increments of 500 hours.