Volunteer

Everybody knows a volunteer (I hope). We hear about them, read about their service, but if you're not paying attention, they go unnoticed. In a hospital, they are indispensable; so much work is done by them and their only compensation is our thanks and perhaps an "Annual Volunteer Dinner". In our crazy department, we have had a few helpful volunteers over the two and a half years that I have been there. Quite often they are Nursing students, both male and female. They often appear shy and uncertain in the beginning, but I think we help them to feel welcome and appreciated, and when they leave, I know that everyone has benefitted from the arrangement. Currently, we have just one volunteer, and although my memory is like Swiss cheese, I think she's been coming almost every Friday night for a year or so. She exists in the land of post-college, and working on what's next. I can best define her value, with a poem:

Michelle

Michelle, Michelle
Yes, she's the one,
On Friday nights
She gets things done,
As a volunteer
She's beyond compare,
Without her help
We'd still be there.

Michelle brings goodness
Every Friday night,
When we're feeling beaten
She brings her light,
Her energetic
Enthusiasm,
Builds a shining bridge
Across the chasm.

Michelle, Michelle
Has lasted longer,
Than a league of volunteers
Because she's stronger,
She can stock IV trays
And prepare ten gurney's,
She's more valuable than
Edmundo's attorneys.

Michelle will do
Whatever we ask,
She's confident
No matter, what task,
And whatever it is
She does it well,
At the end of each week
We are saved by Michelle.

Michelle has earned
Our gratitude,
A bag of blessings
For her attitude,
Her willingness
To volunteer,
We hope and pray
She returns next year.

Fibril_late;
12/9/13