Saari logs a phenomenal 5,000 hours

HIBBING—Fairview Range Medical Center has an enthusiastic group of volunteers, among them 54-year-old Kelly Saari of Hibbing who started volunteering at Fairview in 2004 and has logged a phenomenal 5,000 hours.

On a recent day Saari and fellow volunteers gathered in the hospital cafeteria for an interview.

Rozann Prich found two prospective volunteers with one phone call—Kelly Saari and Kelly’s mother Sandra. Before her retirement, Prich had worked more than three decades for Northwestern Bell Telephone. “I thought Fairview was a great place to volunteer and to give my time, and I’ve been doing this for 23 years now. It’s a wonderful place to volunteer.”

Ronnie Boucher began volunteering “as soon as I retired and that was in 2009. There was no way I was going to not do something, and I just came here (Fairview) and offered. I signed up. Nobody called me. And now they can’t get rid of me!” She had a long career working for Northwest Airlines.

Volunteer coordinator Darlene Majkich is a real estate agent and decided to also work at Fairview.

Saari said she enjoys helping in the Gift Nook, which features all manner of interesting items. She also has done phone calling and banking for the hospital fundraisers. “And I’ve had the Secondhand Rose (sale) with Rozann. So, we sell slightly used purses and the wallets and jewelry that volunteers donated to us.”

Prich said, “We made a lot of money.” Majkich said, “That was all donated. Fairview is a good place to volunteer. It’s wonderful.” Saari agreed. The volunteers also have a Sunshine Committee doing various good deeds at the hospital.

Majkich said, “Yes, the administration and the employees always thank us for what we do.” One of the many things purchased with proceeds from sales has been the transfer chairs. The wheeled chairs have been referred to as “the Cadillacs,” Majkich said.

Majkich continued, “We have a great, great committee that is really committed to remembering the volunteers that made us who we are today. So, when we started, we decided as a committee to send cards. Greeting cards to these people that were in facilities and we decided that we would ask our volunteers for their extra greeting cards. Well, until we got on our feet and got any greeting cards, Kelly made the cards and the back says, ‘Especially made for you’ whether it’s a sympathy card, a birthday card or a Valentine’s card.”

Prich said Saari “went above and beyond by taking the initiative. I always say that volunteers are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And she is extraordinary.” She said Saari doesn’t drive and “you have to wonder how she got here to volunteer.”

Saari said she takes the bus or a taxi “and then your neighbors and friends and my brother and my father. I worked in the afternoon when I started.”

Prich said, “Fairview is good to us. You know we have perks. You know working here they give us lunch when we’re working and a discount at the gift shop. It’s a wonderful relationship that we have with Fairview. So, it’s a win-win.” She encourages others to join the volunteer organization.

Majkich said the “hours are very flexible. You can work as many as you want or if you only want to work one day.” Saari said, “I really enjoy the people that I met, the employees, the administration, and it’s fun working here. We get together for our luncheons with volunteers. It’s so much fun with these ladies when we get together” Prich said. “That’s right. We do. But when I first started, we had 245 volunteers. Now we have 41. It’s a different world out there. It’s just the world we live in. I’ve been here 23 years and I’m going to keep getting involved until I can’t anymore because that’s the way I feel about it.”