Volunteers who have job assignments in the category may have short term, seasonal or specific technical or clinical assignments. They assist mental health staff in group therapy settings, go into the community to let organizations, businesses etc. Learn more about the needs of the medical center, provide technical assistance to departments and VA staff, staff the annual holiday gift shops, serve on committees to promote such events as National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, the Rose Festival Court visit, Veterans Day activities and other essential projects.

Volunteers who serve in this category are the VA’s ambassadors in the community. These volunteers are frequently members of the VAVS Advisory Committee and represent service organizations in their communities. They are liaisons between the hospital and the organization. They also encourage their members to make donations, support medical centers’ needs and generally keep their organizations up-to-date regarding the medical center, its plans, and how it is fulfilling the mission to serve veterans. Frequently, these volunteers have additional assignments as volunteers.

Volunteers in this job category provide services to veterans and their families by providing the “extra” services which tells the veterans that he or she is important. Guest services include: transportation to and from a veteran’s home community, rides from the parking lot to the hospital door, distribution of comfort items (shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, combs, etc.), provision of books, magazines and newspapers, giving a “touch of home” by offering homemade lap robes, quilts, afghans, wheelchair bags and assisting at the information desk just to name a few “extras”.

Volunteers in this area work to keep the hospital safe and beautiful. Some assist in keeping the building up to all of the latest fire and safety codes. Other volunteers who work in this area love plants and flowers and know that they are part of the care veterans receive by supporting the hardworking ground crews to assist in making the grounds beautiful. Beautiful surroundings are therapeutic and contribute to the healing process of our veterans.

Volunteers who work in this job category provide services to hospitalized veterans and veterans getting care in outpatient clinics. Some of our volunteers work with dying veterans in the Hospice unit, reading to patients, writing letters and doing the things that make their remaining days meaningful; some work in the pharmacy assisting professional staff with tasks that make dispensing medication go much quicker; some provide courier services of specimens or transport patients to various treatment sites around the medical center and some provide recreation activities for veterans to help them stay mentally and physically active while recovering from illness and disabilities.