Hospital Auxiliary

The Fairfield Harbour Hospital Auxiliary has had a very busy start during spring this year! We celebrated a fun and entertaining evening with our second annual Friendship Gathering on the evening of February 26th. During this event we invite neighbors and friends to join us at the Community Center to learn what the FH Hospital Auxiliary is all about. Three new friends and possible Auxiliary volunteers came to our gathering where we enjoyed wine, cheese and desserts… and lots of chatting and laughing. 😊 We’d like to extend a BIG thank you to Mary Lou Infinito and her dynamo team, who set the room up with beautiful decorations! I have included a cute picture below. Diane Meyers is getting her team together to plan our annual spring potluck for May 28th. Last year’s was so much fun with good food, games and prizes!

Our spring bake sale will coincide with the FH Community Yard Sale on the morning of April 5th. We will be inside the Community Center with fresh from the oven yummy cinnamon rolls and will offer hot coffee & tea including sodas and water. Many of the Auxiliary volunteers will jump in to make all kinds of sweet breads, cookies, brownies, muffins, and bunt cakes for the bake sale, too. Janell Ringuette has organized this event every year- twice a year and does a wonderful job setting it up and running the show. We will have a 50/50% raffle for shoppers at the yard sale and remember the more tickets you buy the bigger the prize money will become. All the funds from the bake sale and raffle goes right back into the Auxiliary to purchase materials for baby blankets, yarn for afghans and lap robes, and material for making toys, fidgets, surgery pillows, eye glass cases, etc. This year we will have a Yard Sale booth inside the Community Center where people can purchase items that are donated by our volunteers. Mary Lou Infinito heads this committee of dedicated workers and collects the most useful and unique items to sell. Again, all the funds go right back to the Hospital Auxiliary for supplies we use to support the hospital. Mary Lou also collects books and magazines for hospital patients each month. Last month, she delivered 25 books and 15 magazines to the hospital. Thank you, Mary Lou!

On April 21st all hospital volunteers are invited to the Flame’ venue for a Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon, sponsored by the hospital administration. During this special event many volunteers will receive gold merit bars that they wear on their hospital vests/jackets for the hours they have accrued for volunteering. It is such an honor to be recognized for supporting our hospital to help heal the many hundreds of patients who come through Carolina East. Here is a beautiful and timeless quote about volunteering from Mahatma Gandhi, “The Best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” I say AMEN to that!

The Auxiliary Christmas Stocking chair, Ruth Blackwell, has declared that Christmas stockings are right around the corner. WHAT … already?? Yes mam…already, with her team of volunteers meeting at the Community Center on May 8th from 1-4 to trace and cutout 230 stockings, which will be put together and sewn over the next several months. Ruth has done a wonderful job with this every year, and it takes a lot of hours and peoplepower to get everything ready before Santa and Mrs. Claus deliver these beautiful stockings to patients who are in the hospital over Christmas. Last year, Ruth started a wish list on Amazon.com, which was very successful. She lists the different things that we collect to stuff the stockings with, in an easy way for people to purchase and have the items delivered to Ruth’s home. Examples are shampoo, toothbrushes, lotion, decks of cards, pens & pencils, note pads, and puzzle books. The Auxiliary volunteers also make many homemade items like washcloths, mug rugs, coasters, decorative keyrings, and picture frames. To those who gave through the Amazon link last year, thank you so much for supporting us, and we would greatly appreciate your support again. Thank You!

Shaellen Thompson, the Volunteer Manager for Carolina East, let us know that the hospital would love to see more people sign up to become volunteers. So please contact her through the hospital if you’d like to speak with her about the many opportunities that are currently available. Her email is sthompson@carolinaeasthealth.com . She also lets us know what the hospital needs so that our team of volunteers can jump on it and get busy making eyeglass cases, baby blankets & hats, surgery pillows, and the list goes on. Shaellen also shared with the Auxiliary at our March meeting that there is a group of sewers at the hospital, who use donated wedding and prom dresses to make beautiful gowns for infants who are born sleeping (stillborn). The baby girls are dressed in a bonnet and lacy gown and the boys wear a gown with a vest and cap. These ladies also make pillows from the donated dresses and a professional photographer comes in to take pictures for the parents free of charge. The gowns are a beautiful keepsake for the parents to cherish the memory of their lost little one. If anyone in Fairfield Harbour knows of someone who would like to donate their dress for this cause, then please contact Shaellen through her email above.

The FH Hospital Auxiliary meets on the third Monday of most every month, at the Community Center from 9:30 to 10:30. The auxiliary does not hold meetings during the summer months of July and August. It’s a great way to meet new friends and become involved in our community in helping Carolina East Medical Center. If you would like to learn how to knit and crochet, we offer a free Stitch and Chat from 1:30-3 at the Activity Center in Room 2 on the second Friday of each month. We also offer Crochet Corner to teach lessons and techniques after each meeting on the third Wednesday of each month at 10:30. Please, join us and see what we’re all about. Membership is free and for more information, you may contact our Chairperson, Holly Woodcock or Pat Geres, Membership Chair.

Ingrid Kaplan crocheted a beautiful and colorful afghan using smaller pieces of yard tied together.

Pam Glaskill crocheted an amazing chevron stripe afghan and sewed a cute stuffed animal for our pediatric patients.

Joyce Boker made a colorful fidget for patients who need tactile support during their treatments at the hospital.

One of our newest members, Mary Stiegler, sewed and stuffed five colorful surgery pillows for patients at Carolina East.

The Auxiliary hosted its second annual Friendship Gathering with wine, cheese and delicious desserts. (L to R) Janell Ringuette, Shaellen Thompson, Mary Stiegler, Judy Gates, Jane Haeussler, Mary Lou Infinito, Mary Florence, Holly Woodcock, Ruthann Hendel, Sherye Sandall and Eileen Harriton.