Hospital Auxiliary Foundation turns 10

Jo Ann Halb, of the Village Rio Ponderosa, and Bob Strongin, of the Village of Springdale, have volunteered with UF Health The Villages Hospital Auxiliary Foundation since it started as well as for 10 years before the foundation was formed.

The creation of the UF Health The Villages Hospital Auxiliary Foundation 10 years ago marked a pivotal moment in the hospital’s history.

While volunteers and fundraising efforts have supported the hospital since it opened 21 years ago, in 2013 the Auxiliary foundation officially formed as a 501(c)3 organization committed to improving the quality of patient care.

It has helped foot the bill for medical equipment such as the soon-to-come UF Health Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit in The Villages; diamond knives for eye surgery; an MRI remote monitoring system and Xenex disinfecting machines, as well as items to elevate patient experience, such as pianos for the lobby and golf carts to take patients to and from their cars. Its efforts have brought in $6,424,168 in the last decade.

“After 10 years, I don’t think you could have told me on day one what we would accomplish by today,” said Dave Gardner a Village Palo Alto resident and original board member. “It’s been so fulfilling to be a part of the foundation and getting to support the community.”

Lou Emmert, volunteer coordinator for the auxiliary foundation, and she said the foundation came to be 10 years ago as a way to focus the efforts of volunteers.

“We had so many volunteers, but it was a bit unofficial,” said Emmert, of the Village of Belle Aire. “We knew we needed a way to keep everything organized.”

The hospital approached Dick Campbell, of the Village of Poinciana, about creating the official foundation and he became the original executive director.

“I am so proud of the hundreds of volunteers, and all the different departments people help out in,” he said upon retiring last year.

A Volunteer Army

Its more than 700 volunteers still are the backbone of the foundation, and some people have been around since the very beginning. Of the 59 volunteers who have at least 10 years of service with the hospital, there are seven people who started volunteering when the original auxiliary began on the hospital’s opening day.

Jo Ann Halb, of the Village Rio Ponderosa, said the one day a week she volunteers at the hospital’s gift shop is a highlight of her week.

Halb said she does not remember what first inspired her to volunteer 20 years ago, but she is glad she did.

“I remember them putting out a message when the hospital opened they needed some volunteers, and I thought it would be fun,” she said. “Now I have my routine of opening up the shop and getting ready to meet people.”

Volunteering at the hospital makes Halb feel like she makes a difference in people’s lives.

“They come in because they are looking for something, they have family or a friend in the hospital who they want to get better,” she said. “I like getting to help them find whatever they think would cheer up that person.”

For more than 20 years, Bob Strongin has bounced around the more than 40 departments volunteers help in.

Strongin, of the Village of Springdale, has worked at the front desk of the emergency department for the last several years.

“I wanted to give back to my community, and when my daughter was growing up we helped support a few charities,” he said. “So giving back and helping is something ingrained in me.”

Strongin considers himself lucky to pay it forward and be a part of the foundation. He feels like he can make patients and their loved ones’ days better.

Volunteer Cam Kelso agrees. Kelso, of the Village El Cortez, said over the two decades of volunteering, putting people at ease as they wait for surgeries is her favorite task.

“I check in the patients, and they, as well as their loved one with them, are assigned a number,” she said. “They get a numbered stand, kind of like when you order food at a restaurant, and as we get updates on the patient we can tell them.”

Kelso said telling loved ones status updates puts worries at ease.

“They can’t do much while they wait,” she said. “So I do what I can to help them.”

Kelso moved to The Villages more than 30 years ago, and she remembers when there was a large billboard proclaiming there would one day be a hospital.

“Eventually I felt it was a good time to give my time to those who need health care assistance,” she said. “I’ve been volunteering since the hospital opened, and with the Auxiliary Foundation for all 10 years.”

Ye Olde Thrift Shoppe

Rena Marchand, of the Village of Glenbrook, remembers the very first day Ye Olde Thrift Shoppe opened in 2008. The store sells used items as another way to raise money for the hospital.

Volunteers and members of the community couldn’t wait for it to open in the small, yellow building in Lady Lake.

“We had the biggest first day, and I still remember the first item that was sold,” she said. “We sold an ironing board, and for some reason it made us all laugh.”

Marchand said she loves how the thrift store is such a positive thing in people’s lives.

“The community has been so generous to us, and all of the volunteers in the store like working with each other,” she said.

She also said it is a winning scenario across the board, because people donate unwanted items to the store, someone else gets something they need or want, and the money supports the hospital.

“It is very successful, when we first proposed the idea we promised to break even after the first year,” Marchand said. “We did that after the first month.”

Her favorite aspect, Marchand said, is the sense of community the store provides.

“It’s a social event, coming to volunteer at the store,” she said. “Interacting with the customers, the staff, it all adds to your life.”

Hearts for Our Hospital Bicycle Challenge and Gala

The Hearts for Our Hospital Bicycle Challenge was introduced in 2015 as a partner to the Hearts for Our Hospital Gala, which started in 2009. The two events are fundraisers that the UF Health The Villages Hosptial Auxiliary Foundation hold to raise necessary funds for things like hospital enhancements and scholarship programs, the latter of which the foundation started in 2015.

The scholarships go to local graduating seniors and hospital employees who want to pursue or advance their health care careers.

Erica Lebo, interim president and director of the auxiliary foundation, said the last few galas brought in record funds.

“We’re currently changing how we calculate funds from that event, so the number over the next years will be skewed,” she said. “We used to include room name dedications and endowments with what the gala brings in, but the numbers are now being separated.”

This year the gala raised $25,350 in ticket sales and $75,000 from the auction. Compared to 2022’s auction numbers of $36,000, Lebo said the event is getting more successful over the years.

The Bicycle Challenge is Nov. 11 this year and people pledge money for their bike rides. There are five different routes cyclists can chose, from 10 miles to 105 miles.

People can sign up or learn more at heartsforourhospital.raceroster.com.

Commemorative Brick Program

The Sharon L. Morse Celebration Garden is a quiet courtyard between the hospital and the Sharon L. Morse Medical Center where people can relax. Among the benches and ponds are engraved bricks that are sponsored by someone.

The Commemorative Brick Program allows anyone to buy a brick for $100 and have it engraved with names, dates or phrases that hold meaning. Cindy Parr Rabley is an auxiliary foundation board member who took on the program as an organizer. Rabley, of the Village of Bridgeport at Lake Shore Cottages, said she enjoys walking in the garden and seeing all the bricks covered with heartfelt messages.

“All the money from the brick sales goes back to the foundation and supports the hospital,” she said. “And the bricks are permanent fixtures, so you always have a place to come and remember your loved ones.”

Many bricks are engraved in the memories of lost loved ones, but there are just as many that celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and other happy occasions.

“We even have people buy them in the name of their pets,” Rabley said. “The bricks are for everyone to show love and happiness.”

A reception to celebrate the latest installed bricks will take place between 2 and 3 p.m. Oct. 5 To buy a brick, or for more information about the program, call Cindy Parr Rabley at 352-408-2456 or the auxiliary foundation at 352-751-8871.

More Ways to Help

Lou Emmert said the auxiliary foundation has added more ways to keeps patients in good spirits over the years, with some of the latest efforts being the Sunshine Cart and visits from clubs like Dynamic Dogs and Clown Alley #179.

The Sunshine Cart is a traveling cart that volunteers take around one hospital floor a day and has items like pencils and crossword books, hairbrushes and nail care kits, and other things to keep patients comfortable.

“People can make donations specifically to sponsor and restock the cart,” Emmert said. “It costs a few hundred dollars a month to restock the cart with everything.”

Emmert said individuals, clubs or businesses all are welcome to donate to the cart.

Over the last few months the auxiliary foundation partnered with the Dynamic Dog Club and the Clown Alley members to visit patients and put a smile on their faces.

Therapy dogs are a great way to soothe and calm people with high stress levels, Emmert said, and the therapy teams are all licensed.

For more information on the foundation, go to centralflorida.ufhealth.org/giving/foundation-the-villages.

Senior writer Maddie Cutler can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5386, or [email protected].

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