If you’ve ever visited The Perfect Gift shop at Beaumont, Royal Oak, it’s likely you met volunteer Charlene Mabie. After 17 years, she’s one of Beaumont’s longest serving volunteers giving more than 6,000 hours of her time.
“Volunteering feels really good,” Charlene said. “It feels good to come here and help someone who needs it most.”
Charlene started volunteering at Beaumont in 2005 and has worked her way through various parts of the hospital.
“I started with linen services, in the basement,” she said. “I moved to environmental services to help clean the railings of the hallways.”
Now assisting in the gift shop, she delivers flowers to patient rooms and stocks the candy, health, and beauty shelves.
In addition to her regular volunteer services, Charlene is also known to make blankets for patients. “Once I made a patriotic blanket for a patient who was a veteran,” she recalled. “My dad was also a veteran. We talked about patriotism.”
Charlene has made a tremendous impact not only on patients but the staff at Beaumont.
“She takes a lot of pride in her position,” said The Perfect Gift manager Debbie Collins. “She’s dependable and has a good attitude. Anything you ask her to do, she’s very helpful and very eager.”
Charlene encourages others to volunteer as well. “You never know how much someone is going to need you. I do whatever I can to help people,” she said.