Walking her small, white dog through the halls of ACMH Hospital, Mary Ann Gueguen is always greeted with smiles.
The East Franklin woman brings Pearl, a terrier mix, in weekly to visit patients in addition to her other volunteering duties at the hospital.
"I retired and I wanted to do something," Gueguen said. "I'm used to being out in the public."
She is one of many hospital volunteers being recognized tomorrow as part of National Volunteer Week. About 170 adult and junior hospital volunteers put in more than 21,000 hours in 2009.
National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 by former President Nixon to honor those who give their time to better their communities. Many local organizations would find their operations hindered without volunteers. Food banks and animal shelters would have little or no help and fires would be left burning.
Karen Fair, director of the Armstrong County chapter of the American Red Cross, said the organization has about 200 volunteers who participate in a variety of services, including disaster relief and blood drives. Few within the organization are paid employees, she said.
"Ninety-seven percent of the work force are volunteers," she said.
Another local organization that relies on volunteers is Big Brothers Big Sister of Armstrong County. About 20 volunteers participate in mentoring programs meant to match adults with children, said director Jeff Boarts.
"It really is up to the volunteers to make a part of what we do successful," he said.
In addition to participating in the hospital's pet therapy program, Gueguen is the buyer at the gift shop, which means she selects items to be sold in the store. Hospital volunteers work in the gift shop, at the information desk in the main lobby and as escorts who transport patients for tests in other parts of the building.
Richard McCafferty has racked up 1,750 hours at the hospital since 2005 when he started volunteering. The Valley Township man said that after working in the service industry for many years, he decided to volunteer to get out of the house, meet new people and "help."
He volunteers four days a week -- two at the cash register in the gift shop and the remainder delivering mail throughout the hospital. McCafferty's interest in volunteering spread to his wife, Peggy McCafferty, who is the president of the auxiliary's board of directors.
"You meet all kinds of people," he said.
Debbie Reesman, volunteer coordinator for the county's Area Agency on Aging, said 241 volunteers finished 2009 with 24,554 hours in a variety of programs and at the county's 12 senior centers.
"The volunteers are absolutely priceless to our organizaton," Reesman said. "I feel that without the volunteers we would not be able to sustain our programs in the capacity that makes them as successful as they are."
Volunteers at a Kittanning domestic violence and sexual assault shelter do more than the run-of-the-mill tasks. There's yard work and house cleaning at HAVIN -- Helping All Victims In Need -- and volunteers take care of that, as well as helping out at fundraisers and spreading the mission of the agency, said director Jo Ellen Bowman.
There are seven volunteers plus HAVIN's board of directors, she said.
"I think it's a critical, integral part of any nonprofit," Bowman said. "We can only be so many places as staff."
"I think it adds a lot of credibility to your organization," she said. "When people aren't paid and they're still doing it, it shows commitment."
