Active Age
Auxiliary volunteer finds enjoyment, fulfillment helping at Wadley
Wednesdays are fun days for Susan Blankenship. On Wednesdays, she volunteers at Wadley Regional Medical Center.
“I enjoy meeting new people; that’s what I enjoy most about volunteering,” she said. “People you meet are from so many different backgrounds. You can always learn something new from people because people enjoy talking. Listening to visitors helps them feel more at ease.”
Blankenship serves as president of the local volunteers’ Auxiliary.
“The Auxiliary is a nonprofit organization separate from Wadley. As president, I just make sure the wheels keep turning. I’m the liaison between the volunteer coordinator Amy Mascoe and the Auxiliary volunteers. Amy makes sure we stay within the policies and mandates of Wadley. As president of the Auxiliary, I hold quarterly executive board meetings. It’s everybody’s Auxiliary, but someone has to lead it. If any issues come up, the volunteers come to me.”
Blankenship said her husband, Dr. Chuck Blankenship, is head of the Wound Center at Wadley. He is a Texarkana native. The couple met when both were serving in the U.S. Navy. “I did one tour with the Navy and met Chuck,” she said. “I was an orthopedic nurse and Chuck at that time was a lieutenant and a surgery resident. It was love at first sight.” The Blankenships have been happily married 38 1/2 years.
Blankenship said her husband always told her that some day he wanted to move back to his hometown of Texarkana. She is from Branford, Conn. The Blankenships have lived in Texarkana since 2012. “
When we first moved here, I didn’t know anybody,” Blankenship said. “My brother-in-law suggested I volunteer at Wadley.” Blankenship followed his suggestion and is glad she did.
In addition to her duties as Auxiliary president, Blankenship joins other volunteers in various services to patients. She said, “When we come in, in the mornings, we deliver a newspaper to the sixth floor, compliments of the Auxiliary. We also deliver baby spoons to the new moms. Twice a day volunteers deliver a courtesy cart filled with drinks and snacks to all the waiting rooms, as relatives wait for news of their loved ones.”
Other volunteer services include delivering flowers and mail to patients. When patients are discharged, a volunteer helps them gather up their belongings. Then patients are taken safely to their car in a wheelchair. Volunteers also staff the information desk and run the hospital’s gift shop. Amy Mascoe, volunteer coordinator, said, “Volunteers do whatever needs doing.” Blankenship added, “We let the volunteers work wherever they feel most comfortable—maybe at the gift shop cash register or selling items to customers or maybe at the front desk. You don’t ever have to sit around.”
The Auxiliary offers enjoyable activities for volunteers. “For example, every May there is a convention of the Texas Association of Hospital Volunteers. They offer workshops and break-out sessions, and give a big banquet. It is fun. You can talk to volunteers from other places and get ideas on recruiting, fund raising and so forth,” Blankenship said.
She said the local Auxiliary held a fund raiser to help Hurricane Harvey victims. Other fundraisers include a Thanksgiving bake sale, an Easter bake sale and a sale of gently used purses and jewelry. The Auxiliary also holds raffles, and this year will raffle a queen-sized, embroidered quilt. Blankenship said that with the money they raise, the Auxiliary has donated to organizations such as the United Way, Komen Foundation, American Heart Association and the Domestic Violence organization. She added that the Auxiliary has an angel tree each year for hospital employees who have needs in their families. “The majority of our volunteers are retired professionals,” Blankenship said. “We have become one big family. We have an annual Christmas luncheon, and in April the hospital puts
on an annual banquet for us, usually at one of the country clubs. The members vote for Volunteer of the Year and at the banquet the award is given. Also, the hospital gives everyone a very nice gift each year.”
Blankenship’s busy life also includes taking long walks; she loves the outdoors. She also enjoys reading, gardening, working crossword puzzles and—best of all—visiting her 11 grandchildren. To volunteer at Wadley, contact Amy Mascoe at Wadley, or drop by the front desk and pick up an application. Blankenship said the Auxiliary does the interviewing, and a background check will be required.
She added, “You volunteer because you enjoy helping others and meeting people, and you want to feel useful. We volunteers have fun or we wouldn’t be here.”