Personal Narrative: Volunteering At The Children's Hospital

Volunteering at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff, California was an extremely enlightening experience. For the first time, I was given the opportunity to interact with patients on a personal level. Although as an auxiliary member I was mainly responsible for sanitizing beds, changing linens and restocking the rooms, the ability to observe the physicians as they interacted with the patients and the opportunity to speak with the patients was invaluable. I learned an immensely important aspect of being a physician, which is the importance of great bedside manner. However, I wanted to experience a greater interaction with the patients, so I enrolled in an Emergency Medical Technician course at Shasta College and became a licensed EMT.

On December 2nd of 2015, my city of San Bernardino encountered a terrorist attack that took the lives of 14 innocent people and injured 22 at the Inland Regional Center. I can only imagine what it feels like to lose someone whose only intentions were to go to work. This devastated many families and took away their loved ones. Seeing the pain and heartbreak, I knew that there was something that needed to be done. After seeing the chaos go on in my city, I decided to volunteer at my local Salvation Army to do something good in the middle of all this negativity. I donated clothes my family no longer used, blankets, and even pillows for those who couldn't afford them. I also volunteered to serve lunch on the weekends. Seeing their faces knowing

Since March 2015, I volunteer weekly at Memorial Hospital West, where I assist in both patient and nursing staff needs. As a volunteer, I serve as a reception area greeter while giving out general information to visitors and answering phones. I also assist in patient discharge, answering patient call buttons, distribution of meals and water, as well as running errands for the nursing staff which include the pharmacy, lab, and cafeteria. I have also sporadically volunteered at Feeding South Florida, a hunger relief food bank. I assisted in the inspecting, sorting, and organizing of donated can goods which are then distributed to food pantries and shelters. The last two years with the assistance of my mother I have raised money towards the Leukemia

I had the opportunity to volunteer at a crisis center. There was a great a deal of interest because I had friends that were experiencing issues in their lives, which moved them to seek the support of these types of services. I left this experience with an appreciation and a greater understanding of the challenges that both the crisis intervention professional and client had to navigate through. From the centers prospective, funding was always an issue. Although there was some level of federal, state, and community funding the professionals gave of themselves at a level that was par with almost volunteering their time. The level of care moved me, on many days that the flow of people needing services would never end. Each person had a story,

As I walked through the streets, in downtown Guelph, my eyes gazed at the young youths who would sit on the sidewalk smoking because they had no home to go to and nothing to eat. Seeing those who are the same age as I suffer was not a pretty site, and inspired me to take a stand. This is why not involved with Rehoboth Care Centre. RCC feeds the less privileged youths every Sunday and also provides them with spiritual support. I have been involved with this organization for over four years, and I have had the best experiences. I simply got involved with RCC to strengthen my community and make a difference. Over the past four years, my efforts have strengthened others, provided long-term impact and greatly affected the way I see society.

I found my interest when I volunteered at my local Hospital. I decided to volunteer there because I found it to be a great way to not only volunteer, but to have a bit of insight as to how a career in the medical field works. In the summer of 2016, I volunteered every weekday except Friday at Kingwood Medical Center. I was placed in Pediatrics, ICU. Every shift was four hours. On Thursday and any other day I could, I volunteered for eight hours. On a Thursday I got ready to head out to my shift. I entered through the south tower, and clocked in. Every thursday I was set to go to pediatrics center. Sadly, the pediatrics center never really had much patients, so there wasn’t much to do. Mrs. Aaron, who was in charge of the volunteer department,

While being involved in the IB program and doing my Creative Active Service project I have been able to be exposed to different people of different cultures. Along with C.A.S, I try to broaden my horizons when it concerns the contribution to my community. Inluding,doing things that I never thought of doing in my life because I didn't like the idea or the belief that it would be boring. A few activities that I participate in is helping pre-K-2nd graders on reading and writing skills , once or twice a week depending on my schedule. I love being around kids and being able to interact with them on another level and just their thirst for knowledge. Not only do I like being surrounded by children, but also the elderly. As a result, I decided to participate

My leadership roles have included being a big brother and volunteer trainer at Brackenridge hospital. The most important skill I have learned as a big brother is how to motivate someone who may not see the consequences of their actions later down the line, or may not see the reward that can be achieved. This is a skill I have been able to implement in my own life, since it can difficult to be motivated by a reward that is 2 or 5 years down the line. However, by improving my ability to project the consequences of my actions, years down the line, I am able better to focus on my goals and to stay motivated. This can be done by simply writing out small goals that can be accomplished now that form a bigger goal, eliminating any distractions, and establishing rewards for when immediate actions are done. As a volunteer trainer at Brackenridge hospital I’ve had to train new volunteers at the help desk. The most important skill I learned as a trainer at Brackenridge was how to help the new volunteers adapt and feel comfortable to the help desk. This skill is very important, since working with a team on a stressful task requires everyone to be focused, and

I am a part of many different clubs/organizations this year. Inside of school, I am in Chorus, Soccer Intramurals, scenery crew/stage (for the musical), Chimes, and I plan on joining the track team/trying out for the variety show. Outside of school I am an altar server, a volunteer sacramental educator, and over the Summer I am going to be a junior counselor at a camp in Bridgeport. I ardor all of these activities and will definitely continue to work with these groups after school is over.

This was how I spent most of my summer mornings, volunteering at Kingwood hospital. I started during the summer of eighth grade and have loved it ever since. It has allowed me to experience all the different

I have extensive volunteer experience in working with the medically underserved, and economically disadvantaged. Volunteering at the Siloam Family Health Center has been a rewarding experience on so many levels. What makes Siloam special is that it is dedicated to serving the highly diverse city of Nashville, which is home to a plethora of immigrants and refugees. Not only is Siloam keen in serving immigrants and refugees, but also those that are medically underserved. Siloam also welcomes those who do not possess health insurance. Thus, its services are affordable because fees are based on a sliding scale, so patients do not have to worry about facing any financial burdens. Having patients that are immigrants and refugees means that Siloam

At 8 am on Monday I went to my first shift at the children’s hospital in Costa Rica. The hospital waiting rooms were overflowing with parents anticipating their doctor’s arrival to diagnose their sick children. It was evident that the number of patients surpassed the amount of doctors available. I was assigned to take care of Josè, a two year old that was yet to be diagnosed with an illness that caused him to be severely underweight. His mother tried to explain to me with broken English that he didn’t eat much and the doctors weren’t able to check on him often. As I picked him up, I instantly felt a connection. He started smiling and playing with my lanyard that all volunteers received. As the days progressed, Josè and I got attached. I fed

I have written previously on several occasions but all emails have been returned as undeliverable. I in-processed at the office and told to check back after the summer. I am currently in school but I am interesting in finding what volunteer activities are available. Previously, I volunteered with the ARC for several years overseas. I had been asked when I first arrived to represent the ARC at the Arsenal by a organization on post (the requester Tonya Danial) but the ARC office failed to responded to any requests. I have been contacted by the Central Alabama Chapter but the locations are out of the vicinity. I would like to volunteer here in Huntsville. I have contacted several group members but received no acknowledgement. I would like to participate on the awards committee in the interim, if a slot is available.

Throughout my high school years I have volunteered at the Recreation Center and at Valley Animal Haven. I really enjoyed volunteering at the Mother-Daughter-Tea-Party, an event held by the Recreation Center. This event was held a few days before Mother's Day and the theme was Disney Princesses and it had a fashion show. It was a wonderful day for the mothers to spend time with their little girls. What I did before the event even started was make the food, the tea, and decorate the stage and all the tables. When the place was all decorated, it looked wonderful. When the guests arrived, we greeted them and told the little girls how pretty they looked. When the guests were all seated, we started to serve the tea. To me that was the most difficult

Volunteering with women, I have had the opportunity to work with women from different backgrounds. I have had the pleasure of being a GED tutor and even helping a 60-year-old woman study to obtain their GED. The women I worked with were all incarcerated, former drug abusers and domestic violence survivors. One of the women I made a connection with after working together for about 2 months had recently been incarcerated. She was an older white female who only had a 6th-grade education. It doesn’t matter what she was in jail for, or for how long, I just appreciated her for not only being 60 and wanting to get her GED, but also allowing me to help her to get it. I was only 19 and the respect that the women showed me at the program only boosted