Auxiliary donates 4,478 service hours

The St. John’s Lutheran Hospital Auxiliary has once again gone beyond the call of duty to provide invaluable support to St. John’s Lutheran Hospital.  

Their mission is to support the hospital with their time, talent, and the purchase of equipment, and they continually do so with amazing spirit and generosity.  

During the past fiscal year this dedicated group of volunteers donated 4,478 hours of service and purchased hospital equipment totaling $10,100.  As if that wasn’t enough, they drove a total of 6,591 miles to make it all happen.

The SJLH Auxiliary holds various volunteer and fundraising activities throughout the year, and the past year was no exception.  

They volunteered their time to help with the filing in the Medical Records Department, make phone calls for the Community Information Survey, put together monthly mailings to families with new babies, act as tour guides for the hospital’s annual second-grade tours, and hand make and donate baby blankets for all of the babies born at our local hospital.  

In addition to all of those volunteer duties and hours, they provided the first baby of the New Year with a special gift.  

The Auxiliary’s fundraising activities in the past year have included the Nordicfest Swedish meatball booth, Festival of Trees bake and gift sale, Christmas raffle, Spring Style Show and Luncheon, and Spring Rummage Sale.  

The Auxiliary also runs the gift shop at the hospital, stocking the store and providing volunteers to staff it as well. 

Since 2003, all of this work raising funds has provided the hospital, and in turn the communities it serves, with $75,840 for the purchase of new equipment.  Most recently, the auxiliary voted to donate another $4,000 to the hospital to help purchase a Venoscope.  This piece of equipment will be used hospital wide to help locate veins on babies, trauma patients, chemotherapy patients, and others whose veins are small or difficult to find.  

“We are proud of the work we do, and are always happy to help St. John’s Lutheran Hospital purchase the tools  they need to continue to provide excellent healthcare services to our area,” stated Jan Kendall, SJLH Auxiliary President.  

“Our group increased by three members this last year, and we are always looking for more people to join us in our good works.  So, if you’re interested in being a part of the auxiliary, we would love to have more volunteers.”

For membership or donation information, please contact the auxiliary by leaving your name and number at the gift shop in the hospital, or by calling 283-7000 and leaving your information with the hospital front desk.