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UNMC’s docents led nearly 2,000 individuals around campus last year. |
Now, nearly five years later, Cain continues to escort students, community leaders and VIPs around the UNMC campus. “I love the atmosphere of a medical center – it’s all I’ve ever known,” said the retired medical technologist.
Each year, 12 to 15 docents lead tours around the burgeoning campus. In 2002, they volunteered 257 hours to escort nearly 2,000 individuals — ranging from elementary students to political leaders. There were 61 student tours last year with 1,510 participants and 39 VIP tours with 421 participants.
“The docents are essential in promoting UNMC across the state of Nebraska by taking visitors into new and exciting areas on campus,” said Megan Addy, community relations specialist in the department of public affairs. “Through tours, visitors learn about the latest advances on campus.”
“We have an exceptional group of volunteers who are as engaged in learning as the visitors,” said Addy, who organizes campus tours and coordinates the tour guides. “They bring an infectious enthusiasm to their jobs, which they share with campus visitors.”
They also bring a range of experiences. Volunteer Pat Swift also is a transplant companion. Volunteer Mary Beth Gust’s husband is a faculty member. Volunteer Marilyn Kircher worked on campus six years in the College of Pharmacy. Cathy Burkhard decided to volunteer after her son-in-law was life-flighted to The Nebraska Medical Center. “The care and the love for the patient and their extended family was unbelievable,” she said.
The only male docent, Reese Conner, is a retired University of Nebraska at Omaha professor who served as a pre-med adviser. He recruited Elaine Hess, who was looking for volunteer work after retiring from UNO.
Loretta Duff began volunteering in 1984 with her late husband, Clyde. “A great deal of my heart is here,” she said. “It’s a wonderful institution. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Several years ago, Duff recruited her neighbor, Ardis Bergquist, to the program after Bergquist expressed an interest in volunteer opportunities.
The Duffs were among the program’s initial volunteers, along with Arlene Svoboda, Virginia Grissom, Anne Binhammer, Charlotte Wilson and Shirley Sorrell.
“It was a faculty women’s group, at heart,” said Helen Bartee, who worked with the docent program when it was first launched in the early 1980s.
“They exemplified volunteerism in so many ways,” said Bob Bartee, executive assistant to the chancellor. “They really built a foundation that has led to the excellent program we have now.”
Today, Suzanne Singer volunteers to learn more about the health-care profession, particularly since her son and son-in-law are physicians and her daughter-in-law had a bone marrow transplant. “I have loved being a docent,” she said. “UNMC is one of the greatest assets of Nebraska. In this role I can be an ambassador for the medical center.”
Sheryl Smith, the wife of UNMC’s Carl Smith, M.D., leads campus tours when she’s not volunteering in the gift shop or rocking babies in the hospital. “This gives me a chance to give back,” she said.
For more information about the docent program, contact Megan Addy at 559-4694.