Hospital auxiliary honors teen volunteers

GAINESVILLE - The Medical Center Auxiliary honored more than 100 teen volunteers at an appreciation dinner Thursday night at the Gainesville Civic Center.

"The teen volunteer program is a 'win-win' for the teens and the Medical Center," said Nancy Colston, executive director of The Medical Center Foundation. "The program gives teens the opportunity to get a head start on exploring possible medical careers, and the services the teens provide are very helpful to patients, visitors and staff."

Meg Nivens, a Medical Center Auxiliary board member and chair of the Teen Volunteer Committee, presented two $500 Teen Scholarship Awards to Francis Chiefe and Hannah Shilling. Chiefe graduated from North Gwinnett High School, and he is enrolled at Georgia Gwinnett College for fall semester. He has volunteered since 2009 giving more than 200 hours of service to the Medical Center. Hannah Shilling is a graduate of North Hall High School, and she is enrolled at Gainesville College and State University for the fall semester. She has been a teen volunteer for three summers and has given more than 800 hours of volunteer time to the Medical Center.

Dot Dusenberry, an Auxiliary board member, presented The Andrew J. Dockery Teen Volunteer of the Year Award to Allison Cape who has been a volunteer since 2008 and has given more than 400 hours. She is also a graduate of North Hall High School and will be attending the University of Georgia in the fall.

The Medical Center Auxiliary sponsors a creative writing contest for the teen volunteers each summer. The teens are encouraged to write a short essay about what their volunteering experience has meant to them. This year's winner was Caitlin Gooch, and Melanie Smith received second place.

The Medical Center Auxiliary also sponsors a t-shirt design contest. Teens were asked to use the Olympics as the theme to create a unique design. All teens received a shirt with the winning design as a gift from the Auxiliary. First place was awarded to Shelby Everts and second place to Sarah Williamson.
"The theme for our teen volunteer program is 'Where Excellence In Service Begins,' and our teens truly demonstrated excellence this summer giving more than 5000 hours of service at the Medical Center," said Lynne Allen, director of Volunteer Services at Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC). "The assistance our teens provided this summer has made a tremendous difference; they have not only worked hard but also they have brightened lives and lifted souls."

Fifty-four volunteers received awards for completing 50 or more hours of service including: Kanan Patel for 300 hours, Allison Cape for 400 hours, Yeni Taborda for 600 Hours and Hannah Shilling for 800 hours.