Hospital's teen volunteers honored

GAINESVILLE - Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) Auxiliary honored 100 teen volunteers at an appreciation dinner Tuesday night at the Gainesville Civic Center.

"This year's teen volunteers gave more than 4,461 service hours which is equal to 13 full-time employees," said Nancy Colston, executive director of The Medical Center Foundation.

Speaking to the volunteers, Colston continued, "These are hours that could have been spent at the movies, at the pool or beach, or relaxing with friends or family. Instead, you have put others before yourself and chosen to give your time freely and we thank you."

Ruth Faulkner, president of The Medical Center Auxiliary, presented two $500 Teen Scholarship Awards to Katie Shepherd and Omar Ceron. Shepherd has given 282 hours since beginning her NGMC volunteer work in 2001. She graduated from West Hall High School this spring and will be a freshman this fall at Brenau University.
Ceron was presented with a scholarship to honor his winning The Andrew J. Dockery Teen Volunteer of the Year Award. Ceron has been a teen volunteer since 2002 and has given a total of 364 hours of volunteer time at NGMC. He is a graduate of North Gwinnett High School and will be attending Kennesaw State University this fall where he plans on pursuing a nursing degree.

Kati Crawford submitted the winning teen volunteer T-shirt design, based on this year's teen volunteer theme "Unmasking the Magic of Volunteering." Crawford was presented with a framed copy of her design, and at the conclusion of the ceremony, the Auxiliary presented all of the teens and Crawford's parents with T-shirts printed with the winning design.

Winning the first place prize of $100 for her essay, "The Volunteer Behind the Mask," was Emily Niedfeldt. Melanie Turner won second prize for her essay entitled ,"The Magic of Life," and third prize was awarded to Bianca Vera for her essay "The Magic Within Volunteering."

Fifty volunteers received awards for completing 50 or more hours of service including Rashelle Edwards, Cristina Hernandez, Julia Kannapell, Jenny Mancin and Amanda White who have each given more than 200 hours; Ashley Edwards, Jessica Hudson and Stephanie Wilson who have each given over 300 hours; Isabel Ceron, who has given over 400 hours; Marlon Perez who has donated over 1,100 hours; and Max Gunn, who has given more than 1,700 hours.