Winter 2012
Volunteer Voice
A Newsletter for MD Anderson Volunteers
Gifts with meaning Volunteer Services/CAP Task Force enjoys another fun, profitable season Each year, the Volunteer Services/Children’s Art Project Task Force sales generate many heartwarming stories, and 2011 was no exception. One patient came to specifically purchase a new Art Gallery Wooden Tray. His plan was to ask his girlfriend to marry him by serving her breakfast on the tray, complete with an engagement ring. In another case, a young couple and their 18-month-old son shopped and said how grateful they were to MD Anderson and what wonderful memories the task force booth evokes. Their story was about their son and discovering that he had cancer at the same time they became aware he was blind. The child had surgery at MD Anderson before he was 6 months old. A year later, when he reached for a snow globe at the task force booth, they learned he could see again. And in another tale, a young mother came to speak with a volunteer who had worked at the booth the previous week, not realizing that the same volunteers didn’t work every day. She wanted to thank the volunteer, who helped her daughter purchase a stuffed lion. Though the volunteer who had helped her before was not there, she told another volunteer that her daughter had died during the night and that the lion was with her. This mom wanted to thank the volunteer for the kindness she showed her daughter. All of these experiences and more added up to the most successful task force year ever. Patients, caregivers and employees came ready to shop when the task force opened for business on Oct. 3. They continued shopping through Dec. 16, reaching a grand total of $208,400 in product sales — a 20% increase over 2010. continued on page 2
Volunteers Yvette Matuszak (left) and Almas Hamir get in the holiday spirit by selling Children’s Art Project cards and gifts at the annual Volunteer Services/Children’s Art Project Task Force booth in the Clark Clinic lobby. Sandy Gomel, manager for Volunteer Services retail operations, sports part of her collection of task force buttons from years past.