Grand Itasca Volunteer Services volunteers continue to play a critical role during pandemic

During Volunteer Week a special group of volunteers deserves recognition, the Grand Itasca Volunteer Services (GIVS) volunteers. Despite the pandemic, this group of volunteers continues to show up for the community and the staff at Grand Itasca Clinic & Hospital. In 2021 alone, this group of 60+ volunteers donated nearly 6,000 hours of time and talent.

In addition to running the Grand Gifts gift shop, helping check people in for surgeries, greeting people at the information desk, putting on blood drives and making fleece blankets for pediatric patients, they also helped with some critical pandemic related projects. When the lab at Grand Itasca was conducting hundreds of COVID-19 tests each day they were having a hard time keeping up with the preparation of the kits for the nurses to use when collecting samples, so the volunteers stepped in to help. To date they have prepared nearly 14,000 kits for the lab. Also, with enhanced cleaning requirements in the pediatric rehab department, the occupational and physical therapists were spending considerable time each day cleaning the toys and items used during their appointments with patients. And once again, the volunteers stepped up to help free up staff for patient care. 

“Our volunteers bring their expertise and talents along in assisting our health care workers in a great time of need,” says Hannah Chesness, Volunteer and Community Relations Coordinator at Grand Itasca. “We want to thank you so much for your dedicated service to Grand Itasca!” 

Learn more about becoming a GIVS volunteer.