Volunteer Services

‘ Snowbirds’ prefer volunteering over hanging around

Monmouth Medical Center volunteer coordinator Louise Shivers (clockwise from left) sits with volunteers Vivian Shapiro of Long Branch, Zarma Puteman of Long Branch and Helene Gladis of Monmouth Beach.

(Caption 2) Volunteer Zarma Puterman has been working the main information desk for about six years.

            Volunteers at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch seem to agree with what John Finan’s motto of “You get what you give.”

            Finan, 72, is one of the volunteers at Monmouth Medical Center known as a “snowbirds” --- volunteers who donate their time to the hospital much of the year before leaving for Florida in the winter.  In the spring they come back, ready to resume their volunteer duties.

            “Hopefully, you will come out better than when you came in,” Finan said.  Finan has been volunteering at Monmouth Medical Center for 10 years.  When he returns from Florida in April, he said he begins his work as a patient advocate, visiting 400 patients on his once-a-week round, checking on their nonmedical needs.

            “Everything from the telephone not working to the food is terrible,” Finan said.

            Finan said when he walks into patient’s room he tries to find something they have in common to talk about and find out if they need anything.

            “Retirement is a myth,” Finan said.  “Hanging around is not beneficial.”  When Finan retired, he decided that since Monmouth Medical Center was so near his home he would volunteer there.  He also volunteers at a hospital when he is in Florida.

            Finan is a former New York police officer.  After his retirement from the NYPD, he worked for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and New Jersey Employee Assistance Program.

            Vivian Shapiro, 58, returns from her Florida home to her Long Branch home in time for Mother’s Day.  A week later, she is back to volunteering at the Oncology Day Stay Center at Monmouth Medical Center.

            “I had a childhood friend who was a cancer patient,” Shapiro said.  “She said it was the little things that made a difference…being able to get ice, a blanket. I decided that is what I wanted to do.”

            Shapiro said she orders the patients’ lunches, gets them cookies, sits and talks to them.

            “Just small talk,” she said.  “We don’t focus on why they are there”.  Shapiro, a retired teacher, said she has been volunteering at Monmouth Medical Center for about two years.

            “You learn a lot,” she said.  “I make a difference to myself.  The average person is so brave, they don’t complain.  It’s a tough road.  It’s been an incredible experience for me.  It makes you realize how lucky you are.”

            Zarma Puterman, 73, of Long Branch has been a volunteer at Monmouth Medical Center for six years.

            “I was always interested in volunteering in a hospital,” said Puterman, who taught school for 28 years before she retired.  She said she wanted a volunteer position where she would interact with people.

            She is currently working at the front desk at the medical center.  “I like it,” she said, “I’m always busy.  I don’t like to sit around waiting for something to happen.  I’m always talking to people.”

            Puterman said she winters in Florida fro three months, and when she returns in April, she goes right back to volunteering at Monmouth Medical Center.

            At the front desk, Puterman said she answers the telephone, directs people to different areas of the hospital and, “sometimes people just need to talk.”

            “That’s what I like best about the job,” she said.  “Sometimes, people come in frightened.  They respond to a friendly greeting, a smile, and a helping hand.  The great thing about it is that you feel your time is well-spent.”

            It’s very important, Puterman said, to give some of your time to something you think is important.

            Helene Gladis, who lives in Monmouth Beach when she’s not wintering in Florida, directs activities in the children’s cancer clinic at Monmouth Medical Center.

            “I try to make them forget why they are there,” she said.  “We paint, do crafts, make things.”

            Gladis, 72, said she is in her second year of volunteering at the center.  “I was a special-ed teacher,” she said.  “So I have lots of ideas.  If you live long enough you develop certain talents.  My artistic ability has come out --- an idea for a project just pops into my mind.  They have wonderful materials to work with.”

            Gladis said she volunteers at the medical center because she wanted to do something useful with her time.  She said she loves what she does at the medical center.

            When she is in Florida, Gladis said she does volunteer work as well.  She teaches swimming to young adults who are mentally challenged.

            Everyone is so nice at Monmouth Medical Center, Gladis said.  “I felt right at home there right away,” she said.

            For more information, call the Volunteer Services office at (732) 923-6670

We are looking for senior citizens who do interesting volunteer work.  Call Susan Weiner at (732) 643-4275, write her at the Asbury Park Press, 3601 Highway 66, P.O. Box 1550, Neptune, NJ m07754 or e-mail sweiner@app.com.

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