Volunteer has dedicated more than 23,000 hours to Parkland
National Volunteer Week is celebrated April 21-27
It is Thursday morning and Marilyn White is doing what she has done nearly every Thursday for the past 45 years. Dressed in khaki pants and donning her grey Parkland Health polo, Marilyn bounces into the Volunteer & Guest Services office with such enthusiasm and joy that everyone around her lines up for a bear hug and leaves with a smile.
“It was wonderful to be back at Parkland on my regular Thursday. I found two carts of treats reserved for me, so I got to travel on three floors thanking our angel employees,” she said.
But in reality, it is the employees who are thanking her.
Marilyn, who has been a volunteer at Parkland since October 1979 and is one of more than 80 generous individuals who give of their time, has logged more than 23,000 hours in the four decades she has been coming to the county hospital. She is the quintessential hospital volunteer who genuinely loves Parkland and is willing to do whatever is needed to assist.
“There are three things in life that truly bring me joy – my children, the Texas Longhorns and Parkland,” she says laughingly noting that she is not about to say in what order. Her effervescent laugh and heart-warming smile are ever-present as she greets staff and patients on her Thursday rounds.
Marilyn is profoundly committed to Parkland and its mission. Her life’s passion is to serve the patients in Dallas County’s only public hospital. She delights in bringing smiles to their faces. Marilyn loved volunteering in Parkland’s Emergency Department, unquestionably the busiest ER in the country, providing assistance to the staff and patients in the state-of-the-art ER and trauma center that provides care to more than 220,000 patients each year. But these days she spends her Thursdays in the palliative care unit and infusion clinic where staff and patients alike welcome the treats that fill her carts including the kisses she gives.
The kisses – Hershey’s, wrapped in Parkland’s signature purple – have become somewhat of a trademark during her tenure. “I wore out my last plastic bag and had to get a new one,” she jokes as she passes out a chocolate treat.
Born in Beeville and reared in Temple, Texas, from her early days as the daughter of a small-town pharmacist with five degrees from The University of Texas, Marilyn dreamed of attending UT, and it is a source of immense pride that she is a UT Alumna. A rabid Longhorn fan, she also serves her alma mater in many ways, but her greatest love is serving on their scholarship committee, providing a way for young high school graduates to attend her beloved university.
But it is her Parkland volunteer work where she continually shows her compassion toward others by offering kindness and respect to all she encounters.
“Now, who would not have a great day when as soon as you step off the elevator people say, ‘we’ve been waiting for you!’ I am once again reminded how much people appreciate small, thoughtful gifts and a thank you,” she said. “The infusion lab was a delightful reunion of past friends and new ones. I am always touched by the conversations offered from patients who are not new in the lab when they visit with the newcomers. There is almost a feeling of reverence as they comfort them and give them encouraging words.”
Although she has been volunteering at Parkland for decades and has no plans to stop, Marilyn says she can “always depend on feeling better when I leave Parkland than when I arrived – though maybe a little bit more tired!”
Marilyn is not the only person who has logged tens of thousands of volunteer hours at Parkland. Since 1989, Rosie Steffen has been one of Parkland’s dedicated volunteers who regularly visits with staff and patients. Her commitment has led to the formation of the Steffen-Aronoff Auxiliary Scholarship available to children of full-time Parkland employees who are graduating high school and entering an accredited college, university, technical, vocational or trade school. Rosie is also a member of the Parkland Auxiliary and past scholarship chair.
For more information about volunteering at Parkland like Marilyn and Rosie, visit www.parklandhealth.org/volunteers.
Back