Aspirus St. Lukes Celebrates Volunteer Heroes

DULUTH, Minn.– This week is all about celebrating the volunteers that are the backbone of many establishments, such as Aspirus St. Lukes in Duluth.

Two of the volunteers has dedicated 20 years of helping at not just Aspirus St. Lukes, but other places as well.

Sharon Buchanan and Penny Derth helps with checking in patients and keeping families updated during surgery.

The pair has been with Aspirus St. Lukes through thick and thin. During the pandemic, the volunteers help 6-800 patients a day.

Sharon used to work Wells Fargo before she retired, but says she still had lots of skill to use and still wanted to work with people.

“It’s very heartwarming. It feels good to make sure that as people go through this that they’re comfortable and they feel taken care of. So, a lot of people come in they’re very afraid or very nervous. And we just try to lighten the mood and make it a good experience,” said Sharon Buchanan, volunteer at Aspirus St. Lukes.

A lot of what the volunteers do at the hospitals is making the best out of a seemingly bad situation, and the COVID pandemic was no exception.

“We were meeting people and talking to them, it was so sweet. ‘Cuz many of them haven’t been out of the house and they were just eager to talk. And I remember when we started doing children, we would run back and forth. It was not unusual to get five miles a day down in the clinic. And those were four-hour shifts.” said Penny Derth, another volunteer at Aspirus St. Lukes. “Their comments were so sweet. I remember, you know how children are with getting injections, it’s not their favorite thing. And I remember one of them saying “I’m doing this so I can see my grandma again.”

Aspirus St. Lukes is always looking for more volunteers to join their team.

If this is something that interests you, you can visit their website to learn more information.