[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 159 (Wednesday, November 5, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S14025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     VOLUNTEERS ARE ESSENTIAL TO VA

  Mr. GRAHAM of Florida. Mr. President, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, VA, has some of the most dedicated volunteers in the country, 
and today I would like to shine a light on those at the Gainesville VA 
Medical Center, VAMC, in my home State of Florida.
  The Malcolm Randall VAMC in Gainesville is a tertiary care facility 
that specializes in an array of services including cardiology, 
neurosurgery, and nursing home care. With its symbiotic relationship to 
the University of Florida, it is also an active teaching hospital. In 
2002, the hospital had 388,471 outpatient visits, and it continues to 
draw hundreds of volunteers. The hospital currently has over 800 
registered volunteers.
  The Gainesville Sun profiled some of these selfless individuals and 
their commitment to service at the VAMC. Included among these 
volunteers was an 82-year-old widow named Dorothy ``Dot'' Caldwell. The 
article described how every Tuesday, Dot leaves her home at 3:30 in the 
morning to make the 1-hour drive to the medical center and then spends 
10 hours there. She makes this 100-mile round trip every week so she 
can repay VA for the care if gave he husband William, a World War II 
veteran, her father, and two of her brothers. Dot has been volunteering 
at the Gainesville VAMC for 21 years.
  Each of us owes a debt of gratitude to those who risked their lives 
defending our country, and I am thankful to all of this Nation's 
hardworking, compassionate volunteers for helping to repay that debt. I 
am especially proud that such shining examples of this kind of service 
hail from my own State, one that is so highly populated with veterans.
  I ask unanimous consent that the article from the Gainesville Sun 
highlighting the work of these volunteers, as well as the complete list 
of volunteers who work at the Gainesville VAMC be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Gainesville Sun, Sept. 25, 2003]

                            Hospital Angels

                           (By Julie Garrett)

       At a time when friends and loved ones are serving our 
     country overseas and when cuts to veterans' benefits are 
     taking place back home, one way we can support veterans is by 
     taking care of those who need us here in the states.
       Dorothy ``Dot'' Caldwell has given more than 20,500 hours 
     of volunteer time to the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center in 
     Gainesville. That's the equivalent of a full-time job for 
     more than 10 years.
       Every Tuesday morning, she rises at 2:30 a.m. (``God wakes 
     me up. I don't need an alarm clock.'') so that she can be on 
     the road by 3:30 a.m. to make the one-hour trip to 
     Gainesville from her home in Old Town--a 100-mile round-trip 
     drive. She'll volunteer 10 hours, then start home at about 
     2:30 p.m. She's 82.
       ``It's kind of special to see a vet smile at you when you 
     come in and just pat him on the arm or hand him something,'' 
     says Caldwell. ``That look of gratitude on their faces. They 
     light up. They look at us as family.''
       Caldwell started volunteering at the VA 21 years ago after 
     her husband, William, a combat engineer during World War II, 
     underwent heart surgery.
       ``I saw the volunteers running around and I said, `When you 
     get out of this hospital, we're gonna repay. We're gonna 
     volunteer.' He said, `Like hell I am.' ''
       But she prevailed, fueled by the fact that William, her 
     father and two of her brothers were veterans who received 
     medical care through the VA. ``So I'm trying to pay back,'' 
     she says.
       Her own health is good. William died of cancer 10 years ago 
     after the couple were married for 53 years.
       ``Volunteering is keeping me young. God is rewarding me,'' 
     she says. ``You see veterans here a lot younger than I am and 
     they can't even feed themselves.''
       The Gainesville VA had 388,471 outpatient visits in fiscal 
     year 2002, said John Pickens, public affairs officer for the 
     North Florida South Georgia Veteran's Health System.
       And last year, more than 800 volunteers gave more than 
     80,000 hours at the VA Medical Center in Gainesville, says 
     Julie Baker, chief of voluntary services.
       The youngest volunteers are 13, the eldest is 88, with a 
     50-50 split between male and female volunteers, Baker says.
       The entire VA orientation takes about three hours and 
     consists of watching a short video and meeting with Baker.
       Volunteers perform clerical duties, staff the information 
     desk, transport patients to appointments in departments 
     around the hospital and make hospitality visits. In the 
     pharmacy, they open and sort mail.
       Groups from organizations such as the American Legion and 
     Veterans of Foreign Wars serve coffee and doughnuts in the 
     outpatient clinics' reception areas.
       ``It's a great PR tool for us,'' says Baker. ``This is a 
     great way for a group to volunteer together.''
       During the holidays, the VA encourages people to sing 
     Christmas carols to patients. You need to coordinate your 
     visit through the Voluntary Services office, but Baker says 
     it tends to be easier to set up a visit at the VA than at 
     other hospitals.
       Students planning careers in medicine can get their feet 
     wet by volunteering at the VA. They observe in the emergency 
     room, surgical unit and intensive care unit, take specimens 
     to labs, answer phones and stock supplies.
       Helena Chapman, a 22-year-old University of Florida 
     graduate student in public health, began volunteering at the 
     VA through the teen volunteer program as a 15-year-old Oak 
     Hall student.
       At first, she volunteered through the recreational therapy 
     department, playing bingo with the veterans on Saturdays. 
     From there, she proceeded to the ICU, where she helped with 
     bedside stocking.
       The nurses took her under their wing when they saw she was 
     a serious, consistent and responsible volunteer. It wasn't 
     long before she was drawn to medicine as a career choice.
       On the lighter side, Chapman plays piano for the VA's 
     nursing home patients--there's a nursing home onsite--and 
     paints the nails of female veterans.
       ``I like to pamper them,'' she said. ``Everyone has a story 
     to tell. I love 'em.''
       Chapman was awarded the Disabled American Veterans' $5,000 
     National Commander Youth Scholarship for 2002 for her 
     volunteering and plans to become a physician focusing on 
     geriatric medicine. Despite the demands of graduate school, 
     she still volunteers at least three hours a week, sometimes 
     up to 10.
       Baker says the VA's teenage volunteer program is growing in 
     popularity as schools require community service for 
     graduation.
       In the summer, young people ages 13 to 18 can volunteer two 
     to three full days a week, or weekdays four hours a day. The 
     VA starts accepting applications May 1. Slots fill quickly.
       Once teens volunteer for the summer, they can return on 
     school breaks and weekends to continue volunteering, if they 
     choose.
       And finally, if you've had bus driver fantasies all your 
     life, you can drive a van through the Disabled American 
     Veterans Driver Program. Drivers are needed to transport 
     veterans to appointments in Jacksonville, Ocala and 
     Inverness. You don't need a special driver's license to do 
     this, but they do check driving records and require a 
     physical.
       ``We need more drivers. There's always a turnover,'' says 
     Baker.
       Don Myhre, a 79-year-old retired UF professor, started 
     volunteering at the VA 11 years ago.
       He and his wife travel a lot to visit family, but when he's 
     home in Gainesville he volunteers about four hours a day at 
     the VA.
       He spent three years in the U.S. Army as an X-ray 
     technician during World War II. The GI Bill of Rights sent 
     him to college. He worked as a soil chemist and retired from 
     UF as a meritorious professor in 1991.
       ``I'm giving back something to the government. That was a 
     good program,'' he says.
       Myhre says he likes volunteering at the VA and being around 
     all sorts of people.
       ``It's fun, and you get the benefit of lots of exercise. I 
     probably walk about 3 miles a day here. I like to be doing 
     something constructive.''

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