Volunteer of the Year, Scholarships, Thrift Store Changes & other Hospital Auxiliary Updates
Typically, volunteer appreciation is celebrated with a banquet in April, but due to COVID-19 restrictions and precautions Bear Lake Memorial Hospital wants to now acknowledge its Auxiliary and volunteers for their efforts this past year. There are over 100 volunteer who serve in various capacities throughout the hospital and within the Auxiliary.
Each volunteer has been given certificates of appreciation. There are 13 individuals who have donated over 500+ hours of their time and four individuals with over 1000 hours. There was a total of 27,650 combined volunteer hours for 2019-2020.
The volunteer members award the honor of Auxiliary Volunteer of the Year to an individual whom auxiliary members vote as being the best representative of their organization during the past year. This year is Taelor Crockett. She has donated countless hours to the auxiliary on behalf of the community members. She is often found helping at events and in the Auxiliary’s Thrift Store. She has been with the organization for 5 years and donated countless hours of her time.
This year the group chose two high school scholarship winners. The scholarships are based on the students overall volunteering experience throughout their high school career. Lily Richardson from Cokeville High School and Linda Wilkes from Bear Lake High School have each been awarded $1000 to further their education.
The Thrift Store has been closed because of the risk posed to the public and the volunteers, but has now reopened with special donation hours. Appointments must be made for any furniture or large donations by calling 208-847-4445. Otherwise bagged and boxed donations will be accepted Tuesday through Saturday 8am – 3pm. No Mattresses/Box Springs, TVs, or broken items are accepted. Estates and yard sale donations must be carefully sorted prior to donating. The property is under surveillance and no dumping is permitted. Regular store hours are Wednesdays– Fridays 10am through 5pm and 10am – 2pm Saturdays. Everyone is asked to wear a mask to protect everyone that works and shops at the Thrift Store.
The Thrift Store provides Christmas vouchers and care totes for all the schools including Cokeville. The Christmas vouchers allow families in need to receive merchandise from the Thrift Store. The Care Totes provide warm clean clothes to children in need who are identified by their teachers.
The Auxiliary supports the hospital’s health care foundation by providing volunteer workers for their activities including the Salmon BBQ & Run, Raspberry Days Booth/Parade, County Fair Booth, the Golf “Fore” Health tournament, and any other activity needing workers.
They continue to provide comfort care to Bear Lake Memorial’s patients and residents by helping fall risk patients, giving social and spiritual support for the lonely, giving transportation to doctor’s appointments, picking up medication and groceries, and assisting with bingo games.
This group also assists the hospital, skilled nursing facility, and manor by providing a cafeteria cashier, daily snack cart, assistance with medical records, patient feeding assistance, music therapy and social engagement. They provided calendars for the Brake for Breakfast Breast Cancer Awareness Event in October, tray favors and Christmas stockings to residents at the nursing home and manor, provided breakfast for the Golf “Fore” Health tournament. Their biggest event the annual Snowball Dance fundraiser held in February. Money raised at this event benefits the hospitals ER renovations and MRI Suite coming in 2021. Their efforts are and will always be appreciated. If you are interested in being a part of this organization, please contact Lott Crockett at 208-847-4445.