Local Volunteer Honored for 50 Years of Service

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — One local community member will be honored for dedicating half a century of volunteer work to Genesis Hospital.

National Volunteer Week will be observed next week, April 23rd through the 29th, and Genesis Healthcare Systems will hold a banquet to honor more than 370 volunteers. Of those, about 80 volunteers will receive awards for their hours or years of service. Among those that will be receiving awards is Shirley VanWye who has spent 50 years volunteering in the gift shop.

“I got started by joining the Bathesda Guild, which was an auxiliary of the Bethesda Hospital, and their main focus was running the gift shop to raise funds to buy equipment for the hospital. When I first started we actually had a little coffee shop with the gift shop, and that’s where we interacted a lot with the patients and their families” said VanWye.

VanWye says that event though new privacy laws over the years have hindered her ability to talk with patients and customers, she is honored to have an extended family at her home away from home. And she is honored to be receiving an award for her service next week.

“I am very honored to have it, I’m happy that I’ve been able to continue working for the hospital, the gift shop, and interacting with the staff and…for all these years, I feel like the staff has become an extended part of my family. I consider this my home away from home,” added VanWye.

In addition to her volunteer service in the gift shop, VanWye has also serviced on the hospital’s board on a volunteer basis for 22 years.

The volunteers at Genesis Hospital perform many duties including greeting patients and their families, transporting patients, answering phone calls, helping with Hospice patients and family members, and office work. They also play a big role in helping raise money for the Genesis through fundraising events just as books fairs, plant sales and the annual Tree of Love project, among others.

Anyone interested in being a volunteer can call Genesis at (740)454-4700 or visit their website for additional information at genesishcs.com.