Volunteer Banquet

Yesterday I was talking about Gus and his nose, and how hopefully it will heal up before our next Therapy Dog visit for Hoffmann Hospice, the outfit we volunteer for. What I failed to mention was that my son, also a volunteer with Hoffmann, my husband, and myself were going to a banquet that evening. It was the Hoffmann Hospice Volunteer Banquet, held annually, to honor their volunteer workers. I didn't mention it because I really didn't think it was going to be a big deal.

I was wrong.

We all met in the banquet room of Mauricio's, a nice Mexican restaurant about five minutes from our home. We sat with Marylee and her husband. You may or may not recall, Marylee is the one who got me started with the whole volunteering thing with Gus.

After everyone had socialized for a bit we lined up for the dinner and then it was time for some speechifying. There were some potted plants on the table and we were all laying claim to them. A small raffle was held, but none of our group's numbers were called. Then Kim, the volunteer coordinater started speaking. She acknowledged several volunteers who had already given about ten years of service. They all received some nice baskets with some goodies in them. We watched a really nice slide show that showed the volunteers and the patients they visited. I was proud to see several shots of Gus doing his thing. There were also pictures of some of the other Therapy Dogs, of course.

Then Kim started talking about the special program started last year that was especially dear to her. It was the Pet Therapy Program, aka Hoffman Hounds. She started talking about the "volunteer of the year" and I was thinking it was going to be the lady that first evaluated Gus, as she wasn't a volunteer at that time with Hoffman, but now is. Kim was saying how this person (her pick for volunteer of the year) had never had any prior experience doing this sort of thing, yet jumped in with both feet and went to work. I knew that couldn't be the other person I had been thinking of since she had several years of Therapy Dog work prior to coming to Hoffman.

Next thing I know, Kim is announcing MY name as her "Volunteer of the Year". I could hardly believe it. Check out the loot I got!

There was a bucket with microwave popcorn, a box of Good and Fruity, Jujyfruit, a bottle of non-alcoholic grape drink, and a DVD of "Marley and Me". In addition I received a bracelet with doggy charms.
This one is my favorite.

And there was a little pin I can put on my shirt that has a tiny picture of Gus in it. He really is number one!
All the volunteers also got certificates of appreciation and a DVD with the slide show on it. If I ever figure out how to post it here I will.

It turns out my husband had known about this for three weeks. Marylee's main job was to ensure that I made it to the dinner. I really had no idea this was going to happen. While I'm not all that convinced that I deserve the honor of being named "Volunteer of the Year", I'm certainly not going to hurt Kim's feelings by turning it down!


(By the way, we had to play a game for the potted plants. Marylee won!)