Volunteering ‘is my passion’

By Chris Abbott

Editor

Bernie Mummery, 80, has been volunteering with The Volunteer Association to Norfolk General Hospital and Norfolk Hospital Nursing Home since she retired 11 years ago.

Currently, she volunteers at the Gift Shop.

“I worked here for years, in the operating room at Norfolk General Hospital (the day surgery went from two beds to a whole floor), then 15 years at McMaster Children’s Hospital in the operating room.

“It’s my passion… it sounds like a cliché, but it is my passion to make Norfolk General Hospital the best it can possibly be. I was born here, lived in Toronto for years, but my husband and I came back 53 years ago. I knew that I wanted to come back here to raise children.”

Mummery also serves on the NGH Foundation board and several hospital committees.

“Because of my lifelong in nursing and hospitals, I can make a difference on committees.”

Mummery spent most of her volunteer association years in the coffee kiosk.

“It’s fast, it’s bustling, it’s got a lot of contact with the staff… but I was in an accident a year ago – struck down by a truck while walking and have a fractured pelvis, so… this (Gift Shop) is easier. They accommodate me.”

What she noticed is that her time in the Gift Shop gives her a greater opportunity to chat with customers and visitors.

“We listen to a lot of (hospital) stories, and they know we are confidential.”

Mummery says she plans to continue volunteering as long as she can.

“I will be doing it,” she nodded.

chris@granthaven.com