For the Collins family, volunteering at St. Elizabeth is a family affair. The Villa Hills, Ky. family – Tom and Jean Collins and their adult son Peter – dedicate some of their time each month to assist at St. Elizabeth in Edgewood.
In addition to his job at Kroger, Peter, who has special needs, volunteers in the St. Elizabeth business office every Wednesday delivering paperwork to the different departments within the hospital. He’s been volunteering for more than a decade.
“They love him out there and he likes it too. He says it’s his favorite job,” said Tom Collins.
Retired teacher Jean Collins has also volunteered at St. Elizabeth for more than ten years. One Sunday each month she visits patients in the hospital as a eucharistic minister distributing communion.
When Tom Collins retired from his sales job three years ago, he joined his wife in distributing communion one Sunday per month. But when Tom learned from the St. Elizabeth volunteer coordinators that they were in need of people to work in the surgery lounge, he signed up for a weekly four-hour shift.
During his volunteer shift in the surgery lounge, Tom accompanies families of patients to consultation rooms to meet with the doctor or to a post-operative room.
“I work with the nurses and other volunteers,” Tom said. “It’s a bunch of nice people and I look forward to it every week.”
The Collins family has no plans to stop their volunteer work any time soon, as they all enjoy their roles at St. Elizabeth.
“We feel like we are helping a little bit and that’s what it is all about,” Tom said.
Click here to learn more about volunteer opportunities with St. Elizabeth Healthcare.
