For students interested in a career in the medical field, there are opportunities to start working in the field while still in High School.  For over 50 years, the Lakeview Hospital Foundation and its predecessor, the Lakeview Auxiliary, have been assisting Lakeview Hospital with volunteers with people of all ages, including students.

Volunteering at  Lakeview Hospital is an opportunity for any able bodied citizen to give time out of their day to assist at the hospital. However,  for students who are seeking post-secondary education in the medical field, becoming a volunteer has additional benefits besides just doing volunteer work in the community.   Student volunteers can qualify for  scholarships towards college. And with rising college costs being a current trend, many students seek financial aid towards college tuition, and opportunities like these can help.

Barbara Dahlke, a long time volunteer at Lakeview hospital, joining the Lakeview Auxillary in 1968, elaborated on her experience, “While volunteering, you receive a feeling of fulfillment, seeing people you know and meeting new people, and also being active in your community.”

She elaborated more on the ages of volunteers, “Many students volunteer in the summer, and the youngest are usually in high school.” She stated that students can work shorter shifts of several hours after school, on weekends or over the summer. She explained how when volunteers assist at the hospital, tasks such as sorting paperwork, helping with admissions, and many other jobs during volunteering provide assistance that is immensely helpful to the hospital, as well as to the patients and other workers. She also commented on how she was treated while working as a volunteer, “As a volunteer, you are treated with respect and appreciation due to how much money we help save the hospital as volunteers.”

Dahlke also mentioned how thankful the staff is for the assistance.

Another way Lakeview shows its support to the student volunteers is through its scholarship program. Qualifications for a scholarship include having a specified amount of volunteer hours at Lakeview Hospital. The  application also requires being accepted into a college, in a medical field of study,  prior to applying for the scholarship.

Volunteering at Lakeview is an opportunity for students to receive financial help towards a college education, while also being an accessible and welcoming volunteer opportunity for students to be involved. Regardless whether the help the student can provide is simple or great, the assistance can help create a better work environment for the staff at the hospital, as well as a better environment for the patients and the community.