 Home | Recent News | Kansas City | Manor Honors Volunteer of The Year | Printme 01 May 2009 Manor honors Volunteer of the Year |  | Volunteer of the Year Alene Smith with Frances Rohlfing. | |
Alene Smith’s official volunteer duty is escorting ladies to the on-site beauty shop at Presbyterian Manor-Kansas City. It is the way she completes that task – with compassion and perseverance – that earned her the Volunteer of the Year award. She was honored at the Manor’s Volunteer Appreciation Dinner April 20. Smith and other volunteers at the Manor served 4,561.5 hours during 2008. The volunteer program received a Points of Light Award from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in September 2008. While Smith’s escorting residents may sound simple, the challenges come when they aren’t in their rooms or aren’t ready to go. Smith knows the residents’ favorite activities well enough that she easily remembers where a resident may be on any given day and will go to every floor, every section of the Manor to help them make their appointments. Above all, patience and excellent communication are her specialties. “Miss Alene is a model volunteer,” said Volunteer Coordinator Suzi Lockett. “She never gets rattled. She is patience personified. She is kindness in action. Her sensitivity and devotion to our residents is a most precious thing to behold.” Smith saw first-hand how much a conversation, smile or hug can mean when her mother lived at the Manor. She began volunteering there in November 2005. “She knows immediately what needs to be said or done when speaking to residents or escorting them to the beauty shop,” Lockett said. “Her communications skills are extraordinary.” “Some people are just natural people-persons, and that’s what Mrs. Smith certainly is,” said Executive Director Bob Richard. “I always see her smiling and paying sincere attention to each and every resident she encounters, whether she is escorting them to the beauty shop or just sitting with them for a few minutes.” Prior to her volunteer role, Smith spent 42 years as assistant director of patient billing relations at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She and her husband of 58 years, Lemon, have one daughter and two grandchildren. Smith said she wants to help people and make a difference in their lives. The residents and employees of the Kansas City Manor agree that she has accomplished just that.
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