Volunteer Stories

MonarchCare is grateful to Mark Kahn for his dedication and compassion as a Friendly Visitor volunteer. As a very young adult, Mark spent countless weekends visiting his Dad at veterans' hospitals and found himself visiting with other patients. To many of these men, Mark was just about their only source of contact with the "outside" world.

He decided to become a MonarchCare Friendly Visitor volunteer as a result of the economic downsizing that so many others have experienced. He determined that while he was looking for a new job, he could be of value to others. For several years, Mark has visited three individuals in MonarchCare's Care Management program who live in Memorial Manor, a skilled nursing facility, and who have no one to come and visit them other than their doctor and facility staff. They never go out and two are confined to their rooms with limited mobility.

In October 2011, Mark was honored at the Hands On Broward (formerly Volunteer Broward) 11th Annual Heart of the Community dinner along with 63 other volunteers.

Mark reflects on the impact of his role as a Friendly Visitor. "I leave Memorial Manor with the same thought each time; I cannot imagine how lonely these people must feel from day to day. I try to imagine myself in this position and realize these people have grown to depend on seeing me every few weeks. It is simple for me... I will show up regularly as it would be unfair to do otherwise "!

Quan Minh Le has been volunteering with us through our Friendly Visitor Project since May 2012, and exemplifies what our future generation of volunteers looks like.

Quan and his family came to the United States from South Vietnam after the war, because his father was unable to find work in Vietnam and so brought his family here to create a better life for them. As a result of his family’s and Quan’s hard work, he is attending FAU as a pre-med student while preparing to take his MCATs. He signed up at an FAU volunteer fair to visit with some of MonarchCare’s clients who have no one else in their lives.

Quan visits two of our clients every week, Walter and Gerda. Walter is a non- verbal micro-cephalic resident of an assisted living residence. Gerda is an elderly German woman with dementia who lives in a skilled nursing home. In 2012, Quan was runner-up at the Hands On Broward (formerly Volunteer Broward) 11th Annual Heart of the Community dinner. When asked what he gets out of volunteering, Quan said “I just like to make people smile. I feel I am making a contribution to my community”. Just think: if all our future doctors volunteered with these vulnerable individuals what they could learn! Quan is a terrific role model for his friends today and those that he will meet in the future.