CLEARFIELD – “Everyone is a volunteer, even if they don’t know it yet,” Mauzzy Mohney, one of the many volunteers at Penn Highlands Clearfield, is fond of saying.
Mohney and her fellow volunteers were honored Thursday at the annual volunteer recognition dinner at Penn Highlands Clearfield.
Mohney, a life-long Clearfield resident, gives her age as “92 years young,” and has been an escort volunteer at the hospital for about nine years.
Mohney said she had been employed in the school cafeteria and after her retirement, she became a volunteer with the Meals on Wheels Program.
“I saw what the volunteers meant to the people,” Mohney said. “Those people have no one and they’re often all by themselves; it’s about what you get from the people, not what you give to them.”
After volunteering with Meals on Wheels, Mohney then became a volunteer at the hospital. As an escort volunteer, Mohney said she greets patients and visitors coming in and being discharged from the hospital.
She assists them if they need help with directions through the hospital and helps with any other information they are looking for. She said she especially enjoys helping the young children push the buttons on the elevators.
“I’ve learned a lot since I started here and I look forward to many more years to come,” Mohney said.
Mohney said a big part of her job as a volunteer is simply being a friendly face and a sympathetic ear.
“There was a lady who was being discharged, and she was waiting for her son to bring the car around. She talked to me about her son and some of the things going on in her life. Sometimes they just need a person to talk to and listen to what they have to say,” Mohney said.
Mohney said she typically works four hours a day, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. She said the schedule for volunteers is very flexible and if something would come up where a volunteer is unable to work their scheduled day, there’s always someone who can step up and fill in.
“I’ve met a lot of people, I’ve made so many new friends, it gives me something to do,” she said. As a widow, Mohney said being a volunteer is a way for her to stay active and to be involved in the community.
Mohney said anyone thinking about becoming a volunteer will find it’s a decision worth making.
“It’s hard to describe what volunteering is all about,” Mohney said. “You have to come in and try it to see what it’s like before you decide. The operative word is to try. Come and give it a chance.
“Everyone (who volunteers) is just like family and they’re so happy you’re here. I don’t know if people think they can’t do it because they’re too old or they don’t get around very well, they just have to come give it a chance.”
While Mohney works as an escort volunteer at Penn Highlands Clearfield, volunteer staff is also used for hospice care, comfort care and the Cottage facilities. The 243 volunteers at Penn Highlands Clearfield gave 9,872 hours in 2016.
There are also additional volunteer opportunities available at Penn Highlands DuBois, Brookville and Elk medical centers. For more information about volunteer opportunities, visit here.