SAN ANTONIO – From having hundreds of volunteers to just a dozen.
The Blue Bird Auxiliary to Methodist Hospitals has taken a hit after directors asked volunteers 65 and older to stay home for their own safety. On top of that, some younger volunteers are “choosing to stay home” because of COVID-19.
Now, the Blue Bird Auxiliary that used to be about 350 to 400 volunteers strong is now down to a dozen.
“Now, we’re down to 12 volunteers for the whole week so, you can imagine how that impacts our facility and all our departments that rely on our Blue Birds,” said Christi Miller, director of volunteer services for the Blue Bird Auxiliary. “It’s been pretty devastating.”
It’s also affected the volunteers who were asked to stay home.
“They are all eager to get back to work and want this to all be back to normal,” said Margy Lohoff, president of Blue Bird Auxiliary to Methodist hospitals. “They’re a very dedicated group and they miss it.”
Directors are hoping that new volunteers 18 to 64 will step up to help.
“We are looking for volunteers to come and help us in the areas where we still have people, which is our Blue Bird gift shop, information desks, surgery waiting room and our admission area, where we are transporting patients to and from areas that they need to go," Miller said.
If you would like to help, you can apply online at sabluebird.org
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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