About Volunteering

If you do not have the capabilities to donate something tangible, but still wish to be involved, volunteering your time at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis is a wonderful alternative. Even as little as an hour of your time per week can have a profound effect on a child’s health and well-being. Volunteers at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis make all the difference in the world to the children, families and hospital staff.

Benefits of Volunteering
The greatest benefit a volunteer at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis gains is the personal satisfaction of making a child’s hospital stay a little easier.

Our volunteers also experience many other intangible benefits including:

Increased confidence: Many volunteers encounter a variety of new challenges when they begin giving time in their communities. These new experiences boost their confidence in facing challenges in other areas of their lives.
New friends: There is no better place to meet likeminded people than through volunteering. Working together to bring about a change is a great way to bond with others and stay connected long after the work is done. In addition, you meet individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds – people you may never have encountered in your daily life.
Fun: Many volunteers are surprised how enjoyable it is to help others! Not every volunteer experience is the same; yet, your chances of having fun increase when you volunteer in an environment that interests you.
Improved health: There is evidence that volunteering can improve your health. In The Healing Power of Doing Good, writer Allan Luks found medical and scientific documentation supporting health benefits of volunteering, such as:
- Heightened sense of well-being
- An improvement in insomnia
- A stronger immune system
- Speedier recovery from surgery

Type of Volunteers

Individual Volunteers
Individual volunteers automatically become members of The Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis and are distinguishable by their pink outfits for women and khakis and red blazers for men. Volunteers provide a number of services for patients and their families. There are volunteer placements to suit a variety of interests and talents.

Organizations and Groups
Members of many organizations volunteer at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis. Because of the flexibility of the group volunteer program, some organizations volunteer only once, while others come once a year and still others serve every month.

Patients look forward to the many special events organized by volunteers from high schools, churches, retirement and nursing homes, corporations and professional societies. Some employees of corporations and members of organizations fill a weekly volunteer placement, with group members rotating their assignments.

Student Volunteers
The Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis has a vibrant year-round volunteer program for teens. Junior volunteers, ages younger than 18, commit to volunteer a certain amount of hours each month during the school year. During the summer, a junior volunteer’s schedule may change to reflect their summer availability.

Student volunteers are trained in most of the same areas as adult volunteers. Students entertain children in clinic waiting areas and playrooms, assist visitors at the information desk, work in the Gift Shop, etc.

For more information about becoming a Saint Francis Health System volunteer, please call Mary Jane Evans, director of Volunteer Services at (918) 494-1150 or mjevans@saintfrancis.com.