This month marks 22 years that Annie Ford of Hattiesburg has been making her weekly trek to the Forrest General Cancer Center. Don’t worry, she’s perfectly healthy. Her weekly trip brings her here to volunteer, a decision she made after her own battle with cancer.
Leslie Martinez is a graduate student at Southern Miss, and has been donning the green blazer Forrest General Ambassadors wear for about a year. Like Ford, she also has a calling for the volunteer work she does on a weekly basis at Forrest General Hospital.
The Forrest Healthcare system relies on volunteers in a variety of ways. Annie Ford and Leslie Martinez are just two of many, whose happy smiles and caring ways make a big difference with patients.
April is National Volunteer Month, and National Volunteer Week will be celebrated April 20-26. Both observances are dedicated to honoring volunteers and encouraging volunteerism throughout the community and inspiring figures whose invaluable seeds of kindness through volunteering are bettering the community and our world, in general.
“As a cancer survivor, I thank the Lord for bringing me this far,” said Ford, a 24-year cancer survivor, who wanted to give back to other patients. “Everybody helped me and supported me, and I wanted to come back to the Cancer Center after I finished my treatments in 2001 and do that for others, and let them know what the Lord had done for me,” she said. “My husband, family, friends, church members, pastor, everybody was very supportive, even people I didn’t know. They supported and encouraged me, and I wanted to do that for the patients here, and that is what I have been doing.”
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, Ford had surgery in December and started chemotherapy treatments in January 2001. After eight rounds of chemo and 33 days of radiation, she completed treatment in September 2021, just nine months after her diagnosis. She has remained cancer free.
During the COVID pandemic, volunteers were sent home to wait things out, but that didn’t stop Ford from carrying on with her work. “I missed the patients I saw at the Cancer Center,” she said. “I had some old patient relationships, so I called and talked to them and encouraged them over the phone, knowing what they were going through.”
As a Cancer Center volunteer, she also plays an essential supportive role in the daily operations of the center, does clerical work, and helps to maintain an efficient flow of patients to and from their treatments. She also brings them snacks from herself and members of her church, East Jerusalem Baptist, who also donate blankets, and family members who crochet hats and provide other necessities. “I really look forward to coming here,” she said, sometimes staying later than her designated hours, if she is needed.
Ford feels it is important to volunteer. “You don’t know what these people are going through,” she said. “They may not have had the same type of cancer as me or the same type of problems, but it’s cancer. If you’ve gone through that treatment, I think it is important to volunteer and encourage people. Sometimes that makes people stronger. The people here at the Cancer Center are so nice, which makes a huge difference. To work here, you have to be able to smile and talk to people. People need both those things if you are going through a rough time.”
With a helpful heart and a listening ear, she enjoys helping people – whatever the need or in whatever way. “I’m a people person, and I don’t meet strangers,” she said.
A graduate student at Southern Miss studying bio-medical science, Leslie Martinez has plans to attend medical school, hopefully at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, but she’s also taken notice of the DO (Osteopathic) school at William Carey University, right here in her own back yard.
On Thursdays, Martinez enters the front doors of Forrest General Hospital, slips on a grass green blazer, and is instantly transformed into a hospital Ambassador, complete with a friendly smile or wave, a helping hand, and an attitude of warmth and sincerity. For Martinez and the other students who volunteer as part of the Ambassadors’ program, their time at the hospital is also a learning experience.
Ambassadors are college-age students, 18 years of age or older, who have the opportunity to earn community service hours in their various roles at the hospital. The program is comprised of several areas, including Leadership, Patient Care Rounding, ER Care Partners, Information Desks, Customer Care Experience, and Departmental Support. Students rotate through each of these programs, which provides them with direct contact and interaction with patients, visitors, families, and staff. Students are selected through application, resume, references, and an interview process.
Martinez joined the Ambassador program in February 2024. Eager to enter the medical field, Martinez knew part of that experience would include patient interaction, and volunteering at the hospital would afford her that opportunity as a student.
Ambassadors perform quite a few tasks – whether delivering flowers/mail to a patient room, helping with tours, striking up a conversation with patients, their family members or others, Martinez feels quite at home with all of it; however, her favorite part is visiting patient rooms with the Ambassador Care Cart. “We go into the rooms and offer patients personal care items such as a toothbrush/toothpaste, deodorant and the like, or give them something fun like stress balls or coloring books,” she said. “But my favorite part is actually talking with them and the interaction with patients. A lot of them have some nice stories to tell or something pretty cool that happened, and that’s my favorite part. Just having that kind of connection is great.
Martinez is looking more into Family Medicine. “The more I volunteer in this role, the more I really love patient interaction and building that bond,” she said. “Of all the fields I have looked into, Family Medicine is where I feel you can do that the most, that or OB/GYN, where I can do more in Women’s Health, which also interests me a lot.”
Martinez feels it’s important to volunteer, saying, “It gives you a little more appreciation of the blessings you have in your own life.”
Martinez likes that the Ambassador program helps support students. “That is their No. 1 goal,” she said. “They are very good to work with students and their schedules, especially if we have an exam coming up or and need time off. They really are trying to help the students grow and learn to interact with others, as well as helping build their confidence.” She believes it’s the Ambassador program that has made it so easy for her to be able to talk with people. “Being able to talk with patients and others is a powerful tool to have and has also helped me with presentations in a professional setting. The whole program has put a lot of things in perspective for me in helping me grow in this manner.”
“This program, which has limited acceptance, provides students in pursuit of medical and healthcare careers an opportunity to serve their medical community with important, non-clinical responsibilities,” said Millie Swan, Forrest Health vice president. “Not only does the program allow students to gain community service hours, it places them in a position for clinical and patient exposure, and provides them with an avenue by which knowledge of the medical culture can be learned and skill sets sharpened.”
Forrest Health offers a variety of volunteer opportunities. Individuals who volunteer at Forrest Health are caring, dedicated, and committed. Through their many meaningful activities, FH volunteers help further the objectives of the hospital and provide the best possible support and comfort for our patients, their families, and visitors. While helping others, you will make many new friends, learn new things, and have fun.
At Forrest Health, volunteers are central to our mission, “do what is best for the patient.” Every volunteer has a unique voice, perspective, and gift to share. People volunteer for a variety of reasons. You may be looking for a way to give back or pay it forward. You may want to have your first experience in a healthcare setting or begin a new chapter of your life here. Maybe you need to get out of the house and put your talents to good use. Or, you may aspire to realize a long-held dream or nurture a passion. Regardless of where you come from, we welcome you. If you aren’t physically able to volunteer or unsure about volunteering, thank a volunteer for what they do to make your visits to Forrest Health facilities a little easier.
To those of you who already volunteer, thank you for the incredible work you do. We truly couldn’t do it without you. You make our load lighter and our days brighter.
Volunteering is at the very core of being a human. No one has made it through life without someone else’s help.” -Heather French Henry
For more information about volunteering, visit www.Forresthealth.org/volunteer.
