United Hospital Fund Pays Tribute to Volunteers Who Serve New York City Hospitals

93 Volunteers Are Honored at March 27 Ceremony;
Special Guest Is David Ushery of WNBC's "News 4 New York";
TD Bank Provides Leadership Support

Release Date: 03.19.2010
Contact: rdeluna@uhfnyc.org
Contact Phone: 212 494 0733

At the United Hospital Fund’s 17th Annual Hospital Auxilian and Volunteer Achievement Awards ceremony, held Friday, March 19, at the Waldorf-Astoria, 93 volunteers who provide exceptional service to hospitals throughout the five boroughs of New York City were honored. David Ushery, an anchor of WNBC-TV’s “News 4 New York,” was the special guest at the event, which drew nearly 800 attendees in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom.

This year’s honorees were chosen from among New York City’s tens of thousands of health care volunteers. Their collective portrait reflects remarkable diversity. Several honorees are in their 20’s, and the oldest honoree is 90. They are students, full-time and part-time workers and professionals, retirees, and others. Their single commonality is their willingness to give their time unselfishly—averaging more than 10 years of volunteering or, combined, about a thousand years of service—to improve health care in our city.

“The volunteers we are honoring today are ‘everyday heroes’ who can be found on every floor and in every unit of the hospital, from the emergency room to the gift shop, from the pharmacy to the fundraising department, from pediatrics to geriatrics,” said James R. Tallon, Jr., president of the United Hospital Fund. “Each honoree has his or her own special story and brings unique skills and passions to their work. Together, they all lend an extraordinary kind of support and assistance to patients and families as they make their way through our health care system. Listen to their amazing and varied stories, and you quickly understand they are a part of what makes our city and its hospitals great.”

The Hospital Auxilian and Volunteer Achievement Awards ceremony is generously supported in part by TD Bank, reflecting the bank’s commitment to hospitals and health care in New York, community involvement as a corporate value, and customer focus. Antoinette Cooper, director of U.S. Private Banking for TD Bank, welcomed the guests and led a team of TD executives in saluting the honorees.

Serving as special guest at the event was David Ushery, anchor of “News 4 New York” on WNBC-TV. Like the event’s honorees, Mr. Ushery believes in community and civic service. He has volunteered at St. Charles Borromeo in Harlem and has also volunteered as a tutor for local pre-teen students.

The honored volunteers provide an amazing diversity of stories, including the following:

• Marion Defeis (The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore), a nun and retired prison chaplain, helps counsel terminally ill children and their families.
• Dawn Van Duyne (Bellevue Hospital Center) has volunteered for twelve years in the rehabilitation medicine unit where she was once treated, giving help and hope to patients.
• Ralph Wood (NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center) brings a background in marketing to his role with the hospital’s “Milkshake Program,” which helps weak cancer patients gain back their weight and strength by consuming delicious shakes packed with nutrients and calories.
• Mildred Wangler (Richmond University Medical Center), who is 90 years old and has volunteered with the hospital for 26 years, assists the human resources department with various administrative tasks.
• Mickey Schwartz, Henry Spadaccini, and Judy Tonick (New York Methodist Hospital) volunteer with the hospital’s “Step by Step” program, which teaches low-literacy parents to recognize key child development milestones.
• Evelyn Finke (Elmhurst Hospital Center), a retired social worker, helps low-income and elderly patients apply for and obtain the government services and benefits for which they qualify.
• Timothy Borst (Saint Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center), a pre-med student, volunteers in the emergency department, where he helps ease the tensions and anxieties of those awaiting news about their loved one’s condition.
• Adele Warshowsky (NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases) works with adolescent girls and young women who have physical disabilities, helping them improve their abilities and confidence.
• Jack Smith (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) helps set up “directed patient blood drives,” through which family members, friends, and colleagues can donate blood that will be needed for blood and platelet transfusions as part of the patient’s care.
• Lindita Beci (Jacobi Medical Center), an Albanian immigrant, volunteers at a clinic serving generations of Albanians, many of whom fled the war in Kosovo and don’t speak English well.
• Charles and Rhoda Rosenblum (Mount Sinai Medical Center), husband and wife, are retired professionals (he, a physician; she, a social worker) who volunteer in a post-surgery unit and the neonatal intensive care unit.
• Leonora Ceniza (Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center), a retired teacher, is a foster grandparent who provides comfort and care to the newborn babies in the nursery.
• Helaine Fendelman (Beth Israel Medical Center), a breast cancer survivor, works with women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer, easing their anxiety and offering support and hope.
  
  The United Hospital Fund’s Hospital Auxilian and Volunteer Achievement Awards are part of the Fund’s broad efforts to mobilize the energies of volunteers, recognize volunteer achievements, and open new avenues for volunteer involvement in health care.

About United Hospital Fund: United Hospital Fund is a health services research and philanthropic organization whose mission is to shape positive change in health care for the people of New York.

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