Say Hi to Our New Faces of Summer—High School Volunteers are Now in the House!

If seeing the new summer crop of bright-eyed student volunteers isn't enough to make you smile, here's another reason. This year, many of those eager teens would not be here without the concerted effort of many departments—including those new to hosting volunteers—that pitched in to work with Friends of Strong to make it happen.

Due to changes in volunteer policies that are sweeping our country, Friends of Strong faced the possibility of losing more than 100 traditional placements for students this season. Not only did the reduction mean fewer opportunities for students within our community to experience the joy of volunteering, but Strong risked losing out on the benefit of having the students here to support Patient and Family Centered Care (PFCC) initiatives. What's more, kids with budding interests in science and health care also would miss the opportunity to see real health care providers work with patients and families in a medical setting, possibly setting back a future career in medicine.

Our Amazing Colleagues Who Met the Challenge and Went One Better

When Friends of Strong appealed to colleagues like Betsy Slavinkas and her Ambulatory clinic teams, they didn’t have to ask twice. All departments rolled up their sleeves to create brand new placements, all the while designing imaginative and engaging activities for an additional 75 summer high school volunteers.

Those efforts saved the day and, at the same time, provided even more interesting assignments where students will interact with clinical staff and patients and families to provide reassurance, information, refreshments and more. You even might see them assembling heart monitors, assisting in Family Court, and helping patients set up their MyChart accounts.

Friends of Strong’s Assistant Director Sandy Arbasak said, “While it is a lot of hard work for departments to create activities and supervise students, the volunteers fit in perfectly with PFCC initiatives. The kids are the friendly non-professionals who care and have the time to spend with patients and families—often when busy professionals are trying to get on to the next patient. Having them here benefits all of us because their presence often lends a touch that can’t be duplicated by a professional. They are not here for a paycheck—they’re here to help.”

“We really want to thank all of the new departments that came up with activity descriptions and placements and designed orientations, as well as long-standing partners such as Child Life and Ambassador Guest Services. We cannot thank them enough,” continued Arbasak. “If sometimes it takes a little more effort to make sure the students are occupied, it’s worth it because patients and families tell us what a wonderful job they’re doing.”

To give you an inkling of what it takes to wrangle hundreds of summer students each year: Just three full-time Friends of Strong staffers managed to process nearly 500 high school and college students (a new record) over a matter of weeks—no mean feat when you consider each volunteer requires registration, a physical, a background check, documentation of work permit and immunizations, orientation, tracking, and follow-up.

Matt Ulakovic | 6/27/2013

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