What is The Auxiliary of St. Luke's University Hospital?
Established in 1874, the St. Luke's Auxiliary is one of the oldest continuously operating volunteer groups in the Lehigh Valley. Their mission is to support and advance St. Luke's University Hospital and the School of Nursing. They do this through volunteer work, financial support and promoting public awareness of the Hospital's health and education initiatives.
Over the past 20 years, the Auxiliary has donated more than $6.5 million to St. Luke's. Members log more than 13,000 service hours each year. If these volunteers were paid, their efforts would equal $220,000 in value each year.
Auxiliary members come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. “We have business owners, we have accountants and lawyers. We're pleased to see these people who give of their time and their talents,” says Auxiliary President Virginia Oskin. The Auxiliary is 200 members strong and currently includes 50 lifetime members.
For more than 24 years, Pat Schoenen has greeted the patients and visitors of St. Luke's University Hospital's Bethlehem gift shop with a smile.
She knows that these visitors might be having the best day of their life—perhaps this man entering has just witnessed his child being born. Her next customer might be having a very bad day, because it's not uncommon for guests to arrive in the gift shop while their loved one is in surgery or undergoing treatment for cancer.
“They're just really looking for someone to talk to. We want this to be a welcome place, to make people feel comfortable,” Schoenen says.
While her weekly volunteer post at The Wishing Well gift shop entails standing near a cheerful display counter, helping visitors to choose the perfect gift to cheer loved ones, Schoenen knows that her work goes far beyond helping customers at the hospital. Proceeds from St. Luke's gift shops, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, are donated to St. Luke's and the community.
From wishing well to wish list
The Wishing Well, located on the hospital's Bethlehem campus, is one of four gift shops located at St. Luke's campuses. Each is organized and run by the Auxiliary, which uses proceeds from sales to offer Wish List grants to the hospital.
“Most of these kids, their parents can't afford to send their kids to the dentist or eye doctor.”
The hospital's Wish List includes items that departments want or need that fall outside of the Network's annual operating budget. In 2011, the Auxiliary offered 18 Wish List grants between $500 and $15,000. Items on the wish list have included baby sleepers for graduates of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU); the Auxiliary recently purchased 600 of these sleepers, which are safer for infants than a normal blanket. They also purchased sleeper sofas for patient rooms in the pediatric wing, allowing parents with a child in the hospital to sleep comfortably in their child's room.
“We've given close to $100,000 per year. It's a significant contribution,” says Virginia Oskin, Auxiliary president. Grants have also been used to purchase medical equipment, update technology within the hospital and nursing and medical schools, and to conduct programs such as accident prevention (trauma department), health and nutrition programs, and community reading programs. Many of these purchases and programs would not have been possible without the financial support of the Auxiliary.
Supporting the community
Along with directly supporting the hospital's needs, the Auxiliary also supports the greater Lehigh Valley community, both through the Wish List and by other means.
“Several of the projects on the hospital's wish list do support the community,” Oskin says, noting that the Auxiliary has offered Wish List grants for St. Luke's hospice program, which provides patients with a terminal illness a chance to spend their last days in the comfort of their own home.
The Auxiliary also supports medical, dental and vision vans operated by the Bethlehem Partnership for a Healthy Community, which visit area schools in the Lehigh Valley.
“These services support the underserved schools and at-risk kids to offer full-service health screenings,” Oskin says, noting that children who have good vision or corrected vision tend to do better in school. “Most of these kids, their parents can't afford to send their kids to the dentist or eye doctor.”
Area children are also learning about the importance of healthy eating habits and exercise, and learning how to prepare new, healthy foods. The youngest children in the Lehigh Valley are also benefiting, as the Auxiliary offers grants to the Nurse-Family Partnership, which ensures that low-income parents of newborns have additional instruction on how to parent, along with in-home visits to assist with any adjustments that come from living with a new infant in the home.
“There are a lot of great things happening in the community, outside of the hospital,” Oskin says.
A volunteer's worth? Priceless
Tasked with staffing the four gift shops on St. Luke's Bethlehem, Allentown and Anderson campuses, the Auxiliary coordinates more than 120 volunteers each year. (Volunteers need not be members of the Auxiliary, but many do decide to join.) Most volunteers work just a few hours during the week or on weekends and individual commitments add up quickly—during the last fiscal year, gift shop volunteers gave more than 12,200 hours.
Auxiliary members estimate that the value of their time is about $200,000 each year. Their real value? Schoenen and Oskin know these volunteers are priceless.
Schoenen's story is similar to many of her gift shop co-workers. She has dedicated the past 24 years to volunteering one day a week in the gift shop, and has maintained a lifetime passion for doing so throughout the community.
“I love this place, the people, the volunteers. I feel like by my giving a few hours, I've given back to the hospital and the community,” Schoenen says. “I don't need to be paid. I sincerely feel that I get back more than I give.”
Schoenen also enjoys the sense of kinship and family that she experiences on campus. She has made many friends working at the gift shop, and even switched her volunteer hours to work with a good friend each week.
“We get along so well. We've become friends, and I really look forward to working with her,” she says. “I feel that St. Luke's is a very friendly hospital and everybody looks to give back. We're like a big family, and I'm so happy to be part of that family.”
The promise of socialization while making a difference is what draws many first-timers, Oskin adds. “People want to give back, but they also want that socialization. Our volunteers want to make a difference and have an impact on the community.”
Volunteering at St. Luke's
The Auxiliary's greatest need for volunteers right now exists in the hospital's gift shops and gift carts, but volunteer opportunities are also available throughout the hospital. If you are interested in volunteering but unable to help in the gift shop, a volunteer coordinator can help place you in an area that best suits your talents and availability.
“We see unbelievable dedication from our volunteers,” Oskin says. “At the same time, we're always looking for new blood and new volunteers. You can work as little as four hours a week (in the gift shop), or as much as you want.”
While you don't have to become a member of The Auxiliary of St. Luke's Hospital to volunteer, many do choose to join the Auxiliary to have access to the group's social events and community benefits. It costs just $10 to join the Auxiliary. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Annual events
While the hospital's four gift shops are a big part of the Auxiliary's focus, volunteers and members also organize several well-known annual events like the St. Luke's Charity Ball, a fashion show and the annual Classic on the Green Golf Tournament.
Perhaps the most visible of these events is the Ball. The Auxiliary's 2012 Centennial Ball marked their 100th anniversary and raised more than $350,000 for the Bethlehem Partnership for a Healthy Community. In 2011, the annual event raised $280,000 for nursing education.
“After 100 years of being supported by the community, we wanted to give back as our way of saying ‘thank you,'” Oskin says. Next year's event will be held on May 3, 2013 at Saucon Valley Country Club to benefit the St. Luke's Center for Neuroscience, which offers advanced care for patients with neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. Proceeds will be used to purchase specialized medical equipment in the neuroscience center and to provide support services for patients and their families.
The Classic on the Green Golf Tournament, now in its 25th year, has raised more than $550,000 for various departments' Wish Lists at St. Luke's, including pediatrics, oncology, cardiology and patient education programs. The tournament also supports the hospital's hospice and Visiting Nurse Association, which provides in-home care to patients who have been discharged from the hospital or other facility and allows these patients to remain in the community and among family and friends.
“It is perhaps this spirit of spreading hope and happiness that best defines the Auxiliary.”
The hospital's annual fashion show, which also celebrated its 25th year in October, attracts hundreds of people each year. Past beneficiaries have included the hospital's trauma department, area families in need of a safe infant or toddler car seat, and Nicky's Place, a temporary home on the Bethlehem campus for parents with children in the NICU. This year's fall fashion show benefited the Artist in Residence program at St. Luke's, which provides a creative outlet for cancer patients.
Within the hospital, the Auxiliary also plays an important role during the holidays. Auxiliary members offer vital support to the families of children hospitalized during Christmas, Easter, Halloween and Valentine's Day.
“For any children who are on the pediatric wings during the holidays, we go in and give them little gifts,” Oskin says, noting that holidays like Christmas and Halloween, typically a joyful time for children, can be difficult in the hospital. “We hold parties and try to cheer them up.” In this same spirit, hospital patients of all ages receive a Valentine's Day card if they are in the hospital over the holiday.
It is perhaps this spirit of spreading hope and happiness that best defines the Auxiliary. Whether members are raising funds to purchase the latest teaching technology for the St. Luke's School of Nursing or preparing to host a rousing Christmas party on the pediatric wing, each volunteer takes pride in bettering their hospital and their community.
“I feel honored to serve as president of the Auxiliary and work with such a talented and interesting group of individuals,” Oskin says. “I have made many wonderful friendships and find volunteering very rewarding. I get to have fun while making a difference.”
Learn More
slhn.org/auxiliaryslhn.org/en/Donate-St-Lukes/Volunteerauxiliary@slhn.org484.526.3393
