Helping others is always noteworthy, but especially so when it’s helping others who provide aid on a county-wide scale. The Hospital Auxiliary is a group which does just that by serving the Decatur County Memorial Hospital.

The Hospital Auxiliary members are the Greensburg Daily News Volunteers of the Week.

Founded in 1974, the Decatur County Hospital Auxiliary seeks to help create a better community, and understanding of and respect for our hospital and securing and coordinating volunteer service for the Decatur County Memorial Hospital. The original Auxiliary had 100 members in the charter group. Twelve of those charter members remain active.

In 2005, the Red Cross of Decatur County discontinued sponsoring the ladies who performed the duties of the information desk and transport. As a result of this, the ladies combined with the Hospital Auxiliary. Currently, there are 93 active members within the organization.

The Auxiliary sponsors several programs within the hospital, including the information desk, transport volunteers and the gift shop. The Auxiliary also provides patient-info comb cards, given to each new patient, safety suckers for children in ER and the lab, and pacifiers for newborn babies.

Twice a year the Auxiliary sponsors a book fair, which is held in the lobby of the hospital for all employees and the general public. The book fair will be June 9 this year, and will feature not only books, but toys, body and bath items, etc.

The gift shop is the main money maker and has been managed by Glenda Porter since it opened in 1976. The original shop consisted of two cases located in the lobby of the hospital. The present gift shop was built in 1980 and was paid for by the Auxiliary. The shop has expanded over the years and in 2004 the hospital updated it with new carpet and paint. The shop offers a wide selection of items such as jewelry, toys, baby items, magazines, cards, candy and more.

The Auxiliary has contributed over $60,000 of items to the hospital form proceeds of the gift shop, including a hydraulic stretcher, wall-mounted blood pressure units, ICCU chairs, blood bank freezer for the lab, air-conditioner and ice maker for the kitchen, tymparic thermometer for ER, defibrillator and recently a vital signs monitor.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the Auxiliary is invited to contact Ruth Knecht at 663-6356.