Auxiliary to Wilson Memorial General Hospital  

President’s Report to the Board

After three years as president, the first thing I want to do is extend my thanks to each and every auxiliary member for your dedication, your willingness to make the necessary changes in order to keep this auxiliary functional, and your time and efforts that continue to make this auxiliary a forward-thinking and productive one.  Many thanks to the board and all of the staff at the hospital – your helpfulness and support helps make our volunteer positions a lot easier.  Special thanks need to go out to Adam Brown for helping us with our finances and for examining our books; to the kitchen staff –your assistance with our pop and candy orders, and our tray favors is very much appreciated; to Wes Brown and Melissa Billings – thank-you for helping us out with storage space when we really needed it; thanks to Helen Shaw for always helping out, and for adding auxiliary information onto the hospital website; and thanks to Wilson Memorial General Hospital for providing the Christmas Luncheon and Entertainment - our active volunteers really appreciated it. 

Our auxiliary started off the year by sending Charlene Schintz and Pat Witzell down to the buying show in Toronto in January 2008, which allowed them to purchase products for The Gift Shop for the entire year.  After that, we faced major challenges, and had to open our minds and make some major changes.  The first challenge came when we were informed by the Marathon Family Health Team that we would have to find a new location to cut and store our rags and store our wool, as the locum house on Laverendrye would have people living in it.  Linda Richards was instrumental in not only finding a new location at the Center Mall, but also in organizing the move into the new facility.  Our next challenge came when we were informed that we didn’t receive a grant to offset the cost of hiring a student for the summer months.  At an emergency meeting to discuss our options, it was decided to hire a student out of our gift shop funds, at minimum wage for a period of 10 weeks.  Charlene Schintz applied for a different grant, and received $560 towards the cost of the student for the summer.  We also agreed that in order to hire the student, we would have to offset our costs by eliminating the buying show in 2009.  With that said, we hired student Dean Cummings, and Dean did a fantastic job for our auxiliary, as he was personable, efficient, polite, and responsible.  The last and ongoing challenge for our auxiliary is the state of the economy.  We noticed sales at “The Gift Shop” dropping off in the fall, and we had to find more innovative ways to bring people in.  We increased our hours in November and December, which started the ball rolling.  Then Charlene found an article encouraging businesses to offer sales prior to Christmas to move the stock, rather than waiting until afterwards.  So we decided to offer 30% off everything in stock on two different occasions before Christmas, and this proved to be the boost that we really needed.   

Due to the large amount of money we donated to the hospital in 2007, our donations were down for 2008 as we tried to build our bank accounts back up.  We purchased a STAXI wheelchair in the spring, and we purchased four more long lightweight tables and two smaller tables to be used at the hospital.  The total for the wheelchair and the tables was $3,312.57. Although we ordered linens for the laundry department, they won’t be paid for until 2009.  Other main expenditures included: 12 flannel fitted sheets for the long term care patients at a cost of $338.88 plus an additional $47.46 for embroidery, $133.10 on the New Year’s Baby, approximately $350.00 in Christmas gifts for both the long-term care and acute care patients,  $61.81 for a customized frame from Nor-Vista to display our list of donations in the hospital lobby, approximately $665.00 on toiletry bags, $3,326.20 on conferences and travel expenses (HAAO gave us $1,652.25 to put towards these expenses),  and we paid out the $1,000.00 scholarship to Francois Doiron in January 2008 after he sent in his proof of registration for his second term.  By the way, I had the pleasure of talking to Francois this summer, and he was very grateful for the financial assistance the auxiliary provided to him, and is very happy with his chosen studies! 

We continue to be a member of HAAO, and pay dues of $150 per year.  Although we didn’t send anyone to the spring convention in Fort Frances in April, we received HAAO funding to send Charlene Schintz and Pat Witzell to the HAAO Conference in Toronto in November.  The conference not only had many seminars and events, but also offered a one-day buying trip for any Gift Shop buyers, which Charlene and Pat were quick to take part in!  I participated in the Region 12E Presidents teleconference in October, and was grateful to interact and share ideas with the other auxiliaries in our region.  We submitted information to the Northern Connections Newsletter in January, and then received copies of the newsletter with the submissions from all the auxiliaries in our area.  Region 12E Chair Dorothy Friske, also kept us informed with her “Keeping Connected” newsletter. 

Our 14 sub-committees continue to ease the load for everyone, and we continued on our mission to move this auxiliary forward in a very positive manner. Here is a run down of our sub-committees and their purpose. 

1.  The Gift Shop – This is still our largest source of income.  Headed by Charlene Schintz, she spearheads the    shop, arranging the purchasing, organizing staffing, and maintaining the shop. 

2.  Memberships – We sell memberships at $5 throughout the year.  The money initially goes towards paying our dues to HAAO with the remainder going into our general funds.  Nancy Thomson and Fiona Thomson looked after the memberships until September of 2008, and then Pat Witzell took over from there. 

3.  Rags – Linda Richards and Joyce MacKenzie head the rag committee, collect the material, and also organize a group of “rag ladies” to cut it up and bag it in 20 lb. bags. These bags are then sold for $20 plus tax. 

4.  Pop Machine – Laurie Danard does an awesome job looking after the pop machine, even through the frustrations of changing suppliers.  We now deal with Twin City for all of our pop supplies. 

5. Candy Machine - Bill Thomson looked after the candy machine until September, and then turned the reins of that committee over to Brent Richards.  Brent continues to stock the machine with popular products. 

6.  Cards –Denise Joly sends out cards on different occasions throughout the year to auxiliary members.  For 2009, she suggested that the membership list include box numbers to make sending out cards even easier. 

7.  Knitting – The Auxiliary still has a supply of wool and accessories for interested knitters.  Linda Richards maintains a running list of all the supplies, and doles out the material as requested.   

8.  Tray Favors – 32 tray favors are still handcrafted for 9 celebrations throughout the year.  Becky Johnson spearheads this committee, often having help from different people to get them done. 

9.  Books - Barb Duguay looks after our bookshelf located in the lobby of the hospital by The Gift Shop.  Barb even takes older books to Thunder Bay to trade them in.  

10.  Hospital Board Representative – Sharon MacKay represented the auxiliary on the board until June 2008, at which time she tendered her resignation.  We don’t have a member on the board as of this time. 

11.  Publicity – Charlene Schintz and Becky Johnson look after publicity for the auxiliary, utilizing the Marathon Mercury, bulletin boards and the community television. 

12.  Helping Hands Article in the Mercury – Becky Johnson writes an article for the Marathon Mercury on a monthly basis.  This helps keep the community informed of any news, accomplishments and upcoming events. 

13.Toiletry Bags – Nancy Vernon continues to purchase toiletry items and put together bags for patients who come in to the hospital.  Nancy puts together approximately 100 bags per year. 

14.  Scholarship – Nancy Thomson spearheads this committee.  Nancy had the pleasure of presenting our 2008 Scholarship to Asia Henderson at the June Graduation Ceremonies.  Asia will receive this money in September of 2009, after providing proof of registration.

Although our fiscal year ran from January 1st, 2008 – December 31st, 2008, here’s a quick highlight of auxiliary happenings to date in 2009:

v     We hosted a Valentine Bake Sale in the lobby of the hospital.

v     We were given 10 days notice in February, that we would have to move our rag operation out of the Marathon Centre Mall due to an anticipated change of management and the need for the office that we were located in.  The auxiliary scrambled to once again find a new location.  Charlene Schintz, Wes Brown and Melissa Billings were instrumental in finding us space at the hospital.

v     Our auxiliary was able to send six members to the spring conference held in Thunder Bay in April.

v     Our auxiliary recognized three long time members with life memberships and pins.

v     Charlene Schintz was able to procure funding for a student for the summer of 2009.  We received total funding for a period of six weeks, although the auxiliary will be paying an extra twenty-five cents an hour over that rate.  We will then pay the full cost for the other three weeks that we have to fill.  Dean Cummings has once again been hired for this year.

v     The scholarship committee will be presenting a $1,000.00 scholarship to a deserving Grade 12 graduate at the June graduation ceremonies.

To wrap this up, what a year this auxiliary had!  I know that 2009 will bring even more challenges, and I know that the economic times will force us to continue to change, and to be diligent and careful in all of our decisions.  I know that members often find it hard to continue being a positive influence when circumstances get us down.  However, I am confident that with the group of volunteers that we have, and the support that we are willing to offer each other, we will step up to the plate, hold our heads high, make the best of all the situations, and continue to make a difference. In closing, I’d like to offer you a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson – “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”   

 Yours in volunteering,

Becky Johnson 

President – Auxiliary to Wilson Memorial General Hospital