Volunteer
Event Volunteer Resource Center
The Volunteer Resource Center at Community Medical Center provides hospital departments with an active volunteer network. Volunteers give their support in several ways, from delivering flowers and mail to filling or answering phones. Community Medical Center's volunteer can be found in the hospital and Second Time Around Consignment Shop, and other locations, helping to ensure our patients receive the best care possible at Community Medical Center.
High school students 14 years of age and up are welcome.
For more information or to inquire about volunteering, please call (732) 557-8129 or contact Cherrell.Smalls@rwjbh.org
Interested in volunteering?
Learn about our Volunteer Department.
Why I Volunteer
While the reasons why people choose to volunteer vary, one thing is certain: they are helping to make a difference. Community Medical Center is fortunate to have a dedicated group of volunteers who tirelessly contribute their time, energy and expertise to our programs, further enhancing the patient’s experience and leaving a positive impact through even the smallest interaction. As you’ll read in these stories, the benefits of volunteering are immeasurable.
Susan Affa
After being out of work for awhile, Susan Affa, 56 simply has too much time on her hands and was getting restless. Passionate about giving back to the community, the Toms River resident looked for volunteer opportunities and was led to Community Medical Center. She started volunteering in the fall of 2015 and has been working two days a week ever since.
"I love the hospital setting and find it very calming," says Susan, who previously volunteered as a candy striper at a South Jersey hospital. At Community Medical Center, Susan helps transport patients in and out of the hospital and assist patients with limited mobility.
"The hospital staff, volunteers and patients keep me coming back–everyone is so friendly. Volunteering is completely fufilling to me– I feel like a different person by helping others."
Susan has also developed special relationships with patients along the way. She notes how one patient with advanced stage cancer is the most friendly, optimistic person she's met. "She lifts me up," says Susan.
Even when Susan lands a job, she still plans on volunteering.
Dhvani Patel
When she was in eighth grade, Dhvani Patel and her friends decided to look for volunteer opportunities. Dhvani knew she wanted to work in a hospital setting and was excited to learn that Community Medical Center accepted junior volunteers. Now, at 17, the
Toms River resident is entering her fourth year as a volunteer at Community Medical Center and has logged around 700 volunteer hours since day one!
Dhvani volunteers weekly and whenever else she is needed. She spends her time greeting and directing visitors, and delivering flowers to patients. Her favorite part of volunteering is getting to interact with both visitors and physicians.
“I like being able to interact with visitors and help make their day a little easier,” says Dhvani. “It’s also been a great opportunity to make connections with different physicians, who have mentored me and really helped in my future education decision process.”
Her volunteer experience has taught her a lot about what it takes to be a successful medical professional, something she hopes to pursue in the future.
“Before I started volunteering, I was definitely more focused on the education and medicine side of the medical field but volunteering has taught me how important it is to be compassionate,” says Dhvani. “Working with anxious patients and their loved ones firsthand has showed me the value of compassion. I now believe that competence and compassion are the most important qualities in a good doctor.”
Jeff Sharkey
When Jeff Sharkey, a lifelong Toms River resident, retired after 35 years of teaching he turned to something that he has always done, volunteering. He heard about volunteering at Community Medical Center through his church in 2009, and now seven years later he has logged over 2,070 volunteer hours for the hospital.
Jeff volunteers four days a week in the Emergency Department, where he helps get the beds ready, prepares and delivers lunches and assists the nurses with transporting patients. His favorite aspect of volunteering is getting to interact with the patients because he has been in their shoes. Jeff had hip replacement surgery at Community Medical Center.
“I know what it is like to be a patient, and I know they are nervous,” he says. “I like to help make them feel comfortable with some small talk.”
One of the most interesting things that Jeff has experienced while volunteering at Community Medical Center has been reconnecting with former students and colleagues. He did not expect to be helping people that he knew, but he has become a friendly face for them to see in their time of need.
“People looked out for me at several points in my life, and I like to do the same,” says Jeff. “Volunteering is something that I have always done, and it makes me feel good to help people out.”
