The Royal Columbian Hospital Auxiliary is hoping to find some fresh blood for programs aimed at helping patients and their families.
The auxiliary needs volunteers for the gift shop and lotto booth in Royal Columbian Hospital, as well as the New to You thrift store just down the road on East Columbia Street.
“We need volunteers desperately,” said Marlene Braidwood, president of the Royal Columbian Hospital Auxiliary. “We have been around for 103 years, but we do need to get more help for a couple of our venues.”
Along with the hospital’s community volunteer program, members of the auxiliary help the hospital by volunteering at three venues and offering services for patients and their families.
“If we could get one shift a week, we’d be happy. Depending on where they are, it could be four hours, maximum five hours. We are a lot of old people – we are trying to get some younger blood,” Braidwood said. “We will try and work around them, and we will train them. The lotto booth is lots of fun. It’s easy to do once they are trained.”
The auxiliary raises money to buy equipment for Royal Columbian Hospital.
“They send us a list of what they need,” Braidwood said. “Generally, it’s equipment that is not funded by Fraser Health or, if it is funded, the stuff is old or needs to be updated.”
The Royal Columbian Hospital Auxiliary also provides “patient comfort” services, which includes supplying items patients may need when they’re being discharged, such as clothing, shoes or vouchers for bus or cab rides home. It also offers packs for children who come into the emergency ward with their families.
“It’s a long wait, as you can well imagine,” Braidwood said. “We have started providing packs for children. We put crayons and sheets for them to draw. Everything is new and packaged. We have little bears for the little children. It’s something to cuddle and hold. We put in anything we can find. We have only been doing this for a year, and it has just grown. It has been so well received that we can’t keep up.”
Anyone interested in volunteering for the auxiliary can call the Royal Columbian Hospital volunteer resource office at 604-520-4237 or apply online at www.fraserhealth.ca/about-us/volunteer/.
