Gray boxes mean Lise Fields might have to work late.
As the volunteer coordinator for the St. Petersburg Ronald McDonald Houses, Fields keeps two calendars with the shifts of more than 100 volunteers who help run the two houses. A gray box in front of a shift indicates that a volunteer job is open, which means Fields has to either find a replacement or cover it herself.
In the past six months, Fields has seen a lot of gray boxes on her calendar. In May alone, there were 10 days that she juggled her regular job of scheduling volunteers and the actual volunteer job of answering phones, filing papers and cleaning rooms.
Volunteers are critical at the St. Petersburg Ronald McDonald House, which serves more than 1,800 families a year. They are the nucleus of the organization that provides a home to families of hospitalized children. In one four-hour shift they might clean out a fridge, make copies or take inventory of the movies. Their contributions are crucial, especially as the charity adds a third house to the St. Petersburg campus in the next two years.
The first Florida Ronald McDonald House was built in 1980 near All Children’s Hospital with 11 rooms. Twenty-seven years later the local branch charity has grown to two houses in St. Petersburg with 52 rooms. There is often a waiting list for people to get in. Families pay $10 a night to stay at the house for as long as they need to. Last week the charity sent 17 families to hotels, because the house was full. It was an all-time high for turning people away, not something to brag about if you’re an organization built on hospitality.
That’s less likely to happen in 2009 when the charity opens its third house in the area. But Fields’ job is about to get much harder. She is going to have to hustle to find the 40 extra people needed to run the new house. She already has trouble finding people to cover all the shifts for two houses.
“It’s just a lot of turnover,” she said. “We’ve got a core group of volunteers. But with the new house being opened we’re going to have to beef up the ranks.”
The problem is not a lack of interest, but a lack of commitment. Several potential new volunteers call or e-mail each week inquiring about opportunities. Fields spends eight to 10 hours training each person. However, turnover is high, with only 60 percent of the newly trained volunteers staying more than a few months.
Betty DeGroote, 78, is one of those core people on whom Fields can rely. A 15-year volunteer, DeGroote knows every detail of the East house. To her volunteer work is like having a job except her payment comes in personal satisfaction, not in pocket money.
“I’m committed to it because I like to do it,” she said. “It’s a dedication. A lot of younger people don’t understand it. I’m talking about younger people in their 30s and 40s. They have a lot of fun things to do in their lives and volunteering is just something they do in their free time.”
Another problem is that people come with different expectations for what volunteering will entail. The work is not glamorous – it’s primarily a hospitality job. Front desk volunteers sign in guests, register families and answer the phone. Some days they are asked to cut old towels into rags or clean out the refrigerator. Other times not much happens at all.
“People get all caught up in the story of the Ronald McDonald House and the feeling that is here,” Fields said. “In reality, they might have to clean out a tub.”
This type of volunteer work is not for everyone. Twenty percent of the volunteers quit last year because the job wasn’t what they had expected, Fields said. Sometimes people need to be busy the whole time to feel as if they are making a difference.
John Best, 66, has found ways to keep himself occupied during his two four-hour shifts each week. Best is the self-appointed stock room monitor at the West House. He spends his time re-supplying the plastic bowls and cups, shelving canned goods and working on odd jobs. He measures his impact in the diminishing stack of paper plates. When they aren’t refilled, people notice, he said.
“When all these things are low, you can see you’re making a difference,” he said.
But volunteers need not run around doing chores to be effective. Fields said just being present in the house is enough. Some volunteers take advantage of the slower-paced nature of the West House. Fields, who was a volunteer before she joined the staff, said she used to look forward to four hours of quiet. With a full-time job and family at home, that was a time she could relax.
“It’s easy to do and it’s so fulfilling,” she said.
Many people come to the Ronald McDonald House because they feel the work is important. Twice a month Michelle Basilotto drives more than an hour from North Port, Fla., to St. Petersburg where she spends four hours working at the front desk of the East House. She knows firsthand how helpful volunteers can be. Basilotto stayed at the house for three weeks in 2004 while her son, Slade, was hospitalized with cat scratch fever. She was out of town when she got a phone call that he was airlifted to the hospital. She took the next flight home, not knowing what was wrong with him.
“This is a child who had never been sick,” she said. “I couldn’t understand what was going on.”
Slade was in a coma for 10 days. Basilotto lived by his bedside. She wanted to be there when he woke up. When she did return to the Ronald McDonald House, people had to remind her to sleep and to eat.
“It’s a major support system in a traumatic time of your life,” she said. “You feel like you have a home away from home. It’s comforting to know someone cares.”
Often, that someone is a volunteer.
