Congratulations to our student volunteer award winners!
In conjunction with National Volunteer Week , VCH is recognizing a handful of the many dedicated volunteers across the organization.
Across Vancouver, thousands of people are working as part of a larger VCH team, making sure the services and help are being delivered. This team is made up of dedicated nurses, doctors and support staff, as well as a passionate group of more than 1,000 volunteers donating their time because they want to help.
VGH recently recognized four students for exceptional volunteer work with the Student Volunteer Awards – a $500 prize. In total, these have donated a total of close to 2,000 hours to VCH
“These applicants stood out because they were clearly committed to their volunteer work,” says Stephanie Boll, manager of volunteer services for Vancouver Acute and Residential. “All of them contributed much more than the minimum 100 hours and they all seem passionate about what they were doing.”
The students were asked to submit a short essay on their volunteer work, how it has impacted their lives, as well as an explanation of how they would use the prize money.
In addition to writing an essay to be eligible for the award, students also had to have contributed at least 100 hours of volunteer service at VGH, George Pearson Centre, Dogwood Lodge, GF Strong, the VGH Gift Shop or the VGH Thrift Store.
Here are some highlights of the winners’ submissions.
Victoria Chang
Victoria Chang says volunteering sparked an interest in geriatrics
Victoria Chang contributed 511 hours volunteering at the VGH Gift Shop, the STAT Centre Day program as well as the Sub-Acute Hip Physio program.
“Volunteering at Vancouver General Hospital sparked my interest in working with geriatrics,” she said in her essay.
Victoria said she loved the level of engagement she had with the patients.
“Both positions required me to interact with the patients and I had the opportunity to listen to amazing stories of the lives of extraordinary people,” she said about working at the STAT Centre and Sub Acute Hip Clinic.
“My heart was set on becoming one of the nurses whose smiling face the patient had to see and interact with every day,” Victoria said about wanting to become a nurse. “I admired the way they were caring even when they were not always in the best moods.”
Griffin Ferrill likes to ask, “Are you far from home?”
Griffin Ferrill
Griffin Ferrill volunteered 390 hours to VCH, working in the Emerg Department at VGH as well as the VGH Thrift Store – she has been with VCH since 2009.
“‘Are you far from home?’” she said in her essay intro. “This is the question I ask most often when visiting with a patient – I want to know about home.”
“What has struck me the most as a volunteer is how home can mean so many different things: where you grow up, what you love, what you do, or where you’ve been,” she added.
Griffin said if she won the award, she would use the money to pay off current education debt so she can go to graduate school for counseling.
“So that I can start to save money and look towards schooling in the east,” she said. “I hope to eventually leave the Lower Mainland to learn about making homes in other places.”
Prab Chana
Prabhjit Chana believes volunteering has helped her grow
Since volunteering at the VGH Gift Shop in 2010, Prabhjit Chana has put in 617 hours of time.
“I am passionate about making a positive difference in people’s health,” she said in her essay.
It’s because of this passion that Prabhjit is planning on becoming a nurse.
“Volunteering with VCH has helped me grow into the person I am today,” she said, “it is what gives me my self-renewing motivation. I am surrounded with people who I want to become – not just a nurse, someone who inspires, motivates, and gives people hope.”
Prabhjit said the prize would help further her studies to become a nurse.
Nelson Lu says volunteering is a life-changing experience
Nelson Lu
Nelson Lu has volunteered in a number of areas including the Orthopaedic Trauma Sub-Acute Hip Activation unit, the flu clinics, the VGH Gift Shop and the Emerge Department where he is now.
“Nearly two decades ago, I was born in a Vancouver hospital. I was the first among my two older siblings to be born in Canada ever since my parents emigrated from Asia,” Nelson said. “Little did I know at the time that I would also be returning to a hospital many more times as a volunteer.”
As a volunteer, Nelson has donated 396 hours of his time to VCH. A lot of that time was spent in the Orthopaedic Trauma Sub-Acute Hip Activation unit, an experience that made a big impression on his life.
“I found it life-changing and inspiring to observe the progress of patients who once relied on a wheelchair to using a walker and gradually moving independently on their own legs, almost as if they had relearned the gift of walking,” he said. “I realized how critical surgery and therapy were to restoring a person’s quality of life.”
He said the prize would help fulfill the career goal of becoming a doctor, which he began to consider after volunteering at VGH.
Make sure you show your appreciation to VCH volunteers this week.