Carol's Story: Banner Gateway Medical Center

Banner Volunteers Make For Excellent Patient Care: Carol's Story - Full Transcription

Text: Banner Volunteers Make For  Excellent Patient Care

Image:  Carol Forsell, speaks on-camera

Image:  Carol Forsell
Volunteer/Banner Gateway Medical Center 

Audio: “Volunteering gives me a sense of purpose. When you work all your life and you retire and all the sudden you’re free to travel and do your projects, but all the sudden you realize, hey – there’s more to life than – you need a purpose, you need a goal, you need to do something, you need to give back to your community.

I volunteer at the Banner Gateway Hospital and I work in the gift shop. I enjoy it very much; I enjoy the people that I meet, the staff, the other volunteers. You make many great friends, it’s very rewarding.

A baby is being born, there’s a new life and then you have people that are coming in, they’re nervous, they’re afraid, they’ve had tests, they’re waiting for diagnosis, they’re hoping for a cure and sometimes there is no cure and there’s a life that’s leaving. And many times, they just need a smile. They need somebody to hold their hand and most of all I think they just need, they need to talk. They need somebody to listen.

And sometimes you feel like you’re doing just a little bit but, you know, everybody doing a little bit makes a big thing. And it’s good for everybody, it’s good for you, it’s good for the community, it’s great. I love volunteering.”

Text: Banner Health
Copyright 2010