MANSFIELD — Dorothy Mentzer has viewed volunteer work as part of her regular routine for nearly five decades.
The 89-year-old has donated 14,072 hours of her life to OhioHealth Mansfield since she began volunteering at the hospital in 1979.
According to the hospital’s volunteer coordinator, her contributed hours equal more than $275,000 that Mentzer would’ve earned in a paid position.
But the idea of making extra money has never crossed her mind.
“I just like people and I like being involved in doing things with people,” Mentzer said. “I have been a widow for a while and it (volunteering) keeps me in touch with people I think.
“It has helped me considerably and hopefully in turn, it helps somebody else.”
Approaching 90 years of age, Mentzer is still giving her time once a month at the Mansfield hospital’s gift shop and encourages others to do the same.
Volunteer work began on Saturdays
Mentzer began volunteering at the hospital on Saturdays because it was the only time she could while being a full-time teacher for Ontario Local Schools — where she taught for 30 years.
She said she started as a “Gray Lady,” volunteering in the hospital by delivering mail and papers from registration and other areas of the building.
After she retired from teaching, Mentzer began volunteering in the Mansfield hospital’s gift shop and has stayed there ever since.
Volunteering saw a decrease after the COVID-19 pandemic. Several volunteers decided to not return for health and safety reasons, but the 89-year-old never questioned coming back.
“It’s been a part of my life for so long that that’s what I was going to do,” she said. “I guess I just didn’t even think about it.”
At 89-years-old, Mentzer said staying busy may have even helped her stay as healthy as she still is. During times she’s needed care, the longtime volunteer said she’s always received excellent care at OhioHealth Mansfield.
“I’ve seen both sides (as a volunteer and a patient),” Mentzer said. “I’ve had excellent care and those kind of things I don’t forget.”
‘It almost becomes a habit’
While volunteering in the gift shop, Mentzer has also provided a communication outlet for friends or family members of patients, who may be overwhelmed while visiting a loved one at the hospital.
“If you can just talk to them sometimes, that’s a little help,” she said. “When you’re under that stress sometimes there’s nothing that helps, but sometimes it does a little bit.”
She’s felt blessed to have the health which allows her to volunteer, because she knows many who would like to help — but can’t due to physical reasons.
Mentzer knows there will be a point when she decides to retire from volunteering — but that time remains to be determined.
“It’s just been a very good experience,” she said.
“I’ve enjoyed it and have felt that it was a good thing to give back to the community, rather than to allow those times that I had available to go by and not do some of these things.
“It was always a pleasure to do this.”
How to volunteer at OhioHealth Mansfield
OhioHealth offers multiple ways for people to become involved at its hospitals, including auxiliary and volunteer programs.
Robert Evans, manager of hospitality and concierge services for OhioHealth Mansfield and Shelby hospitals, said the auxiliary group is largely made up of local women who are trying to serve the community in a very specific way.
“They do fundraising for efforts that they feel are important to serve the community and the efforts they’re trying to focus on,” he said.
Volunteer program services mainly focus on working within the hospitals to serve the patient directly.
“We do things like escorting patients to their appointments from the front door so they don’t get lost along the way,” Evans said.
Volunteers also assist with helping patients prepare for a return to home or nursing facilities, as well as oncology, fusion services and inpatient rehab.
“We’re actually trying to expand some of those services into our academic partnerships,” Evans said. “We’re looking at how can our physical therapy students who are here at North Central State or Ohio State, help work with our patients in Shelby in the transitional care unit.”
Community members interested in volunteer opportunities can currently come to the Mansfield hospital to speak with a volunteer coordinator.
Furthermore, Evans said OhioHealth is preparing to launch a web-based sign up process within the next one to two months.
“We try not to turn away any help,” he said. “We’re just looking to find what’s the best fit for our volunteers and how can that serve the needs we have for our patients.”
