Volunteer of the Year 2019
At its annual volunteer appreciation luncheon to mark National Volunteer Week, Guelph General Hospital named its Mary Hales “Volunteer of the Year.” This year’s winner was Dianne Steinke.
Dianne has been a volunteer at GGH since 2002 and to date has over 1,600 recorded volunteer hours. She started out as a volunteer in the Courtyard Boutique. Since then she has been President of the Volunteer Association Board of Directors as and is currently finishing her last year as Past President. Dianne is also a buyer for the Courtyard Boutique, attending gift shows twice a year to stock new and exciting items to sell.
The Guelph General Hospital Volunteer Association goes back over 125 years and is constantly expanding. Currently, there are over 275 volunteers who provide support throughout the hospital. GGH volunteers contribute in excess of 15,500 hours of service each year.
The majority of the money the association raises is through the Courtyard Boutique, H.E.L.P.P Lottery and Vendor program with proceeds going back to the hospital to purchase patient equipment.
Did you know, the Volunteer Association:
- Provides Angel Pins for each patient upon completion of their Chemotherapy Treatment
- Provides afghans for patients in many areas of the hospital (i.e. chemotherapy, palliative, dialysis etc.).
- Donated $49,800 in 2019 to purchase a Flex uteroscope, a vein finder, a bladder scanner and an electrocardiogram machine.
- Gives a $500 bursary to the 4th year Nursing Student from McMaster/Conestoga College from Guelph Wellington with the highest Grade point average.
“Thank you to all of our volunteers for their dedication and contribution to GGH over the past year!” says Laura Hutchings, Director of Volunteer Resources, Student Registration & Spiritual Care. “We couldn’t do it without you!”