Hospital Gift Shoppe seeks volunteers

Seven days a week, the Gift Shoppe is there for visitors to Yorkton Regional Health Centre.

Patients, family members, and staff have come to depend on the shop's snacks and fresh-brewed coffee. Over 40,000 cups of coffee and 5,500 muffins are sold in a year, along with giftware, books, and magazines.

Run by The Health Foundation of East Central Saskatchewan, the Gift Shoppe is staffed entirely by volunteers so that all proceeds can go directly towards supporting the foundation's charitable investments into healthcare in the Sunrise Health Region.

About 40 volunteers operate the shop in rotating three-hour shifts. But it's becoming "harder and harder" to fill those spots, says Health Foundation Executive Director Ross Fisher.

Those who volunteer at the Gift Shoppe speak enthusiastically about the work.

Danny Heshka has been helping out for 14 years.

"I really enjoy seeing people here, and I enjoy the work here," he says. "That's why I keep coming back more than once a week or twice a week."

Shirley Dawson has been volunteering at the shop for nearly seven years.

"That's part of what we do, is just socialize."

Many of the shop's volunteers are retired, and working in the hospital is a good way to get out into the community. But the job is "more than just pouring coffee," says Dawson; the real reward comes from the deeper service volunteers can provide to patients and their families.

"A lot of people are sitting here waiting for someone else, and so you can kind of take them away from whatever they're thinking about or worrying about sometimes."

Gift Shoppe volunteers are also in the middle of things during happy moments.

"You get to join in the excitement when a new dad comes in and they just had a baby," says store manager Debbie Blommaert.

The shop is not facing a staffing "crisis," Blommaert says, but the foundation is always looking for new volunteers. Workers of all ages and levels of experience are sought. Training is provided to everyone.

"We try totally to work into our volunteers' schedules. Some enjoy doing it more than once a week. Some just want a shift a month."

The Health Foundation can be contacted at 786-0506.