April 19-25 is National Volunteer Appreciation Week, and Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital is recognizing its valued volunteers, a group that numbers more than 300 and includes adults, teens, and canines.

“We value our dedicated volunteers 365 days of the year, but we are especially proud to honor them during National Volunteer Week,” said Marlee Lauffer, president of Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Foundation. “Our volunteers help us to provide quality, compassionate healthcare to our community. The gift of their time and their dedication to all Henry Mayo staff, patients and visitors is priceless.”

In 1974, President Richard Nixon established National Volunteer Week with an executive order as a way to recognize the efforts of volunteers in the U.S. Notably, every sitting president since that time has issued a proclamation during the third week of April to honor volunteers. This week-long event has become a nationwide effort to urge people to get out and volunteer in their own communities.

However, with the “Safer at Home” order in place, Henry Mayo has temporarily suspended its volunteer program.

“We miss our great volunteers and the significant impact they make in our daily operations,” Lauffer said. “We look forward to having our volunteers back on campus and contributing to our mission of excellence in patient care soon. Our celebration of the work they do will continue well beyond this week.”

Throughout 2019, Henry Mayo’s generous volunteers clocked more than 53,000 hours and served the organization in over 30 different departments. Since the Hospital opened its doors 45 years ago, volunteers have donated over a million hours.

“During these unprecedented times, we would like to take the time to pay tribute to our 300 outstanding adults, teens, and canine volunteers for National Volunteer Week,” said April Garcia, manager of Volunteer Services at Henry Mayo. “They have been greatly missed by everyone these past few weeks. Their 53,000 hours of dedicated service to the patients, staff, and visitors has not gone unnoticed this year, and we look forward to having them back and seeing their kind smiles throughout the hospital again.”

Please consider the many ways you can make a difference through volunteering.

For more information, visit henrymayo.com/volunteer.