Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning, the employees of Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett look forward to a visit from Vic Crutchfield. The 64 year-old volunteer is in charge of the “goody cart.” Vic carefully maneuvers his cart filled with food and drink through the hospital’s halls, providing staff members with the opportunity to grab a quick snack.

“I enjoy interacting with people,” explains Vic. “I guess I’m just a people person, and running the goody cart allows me to get to know many of the employees at Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett.”

It also allows him to raise money for the Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett Volunteer Auxiliary. It’s not uncommon for Vic to bring in more than $100 in a morning. The money raised goes to fund projects such as new chairs for same day surgery rooms and holiday decorations throughout the hospital. As a result of his dedication to the patients, family members, and staff of Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett, Vic was named the Volunteer of the Year.

“It’s a huge honor,” said Vic. “We have so many volunteers that do so many great things in our hospital and could have been given this honor. It really means a lot that I was even considered.”

“Vic has a great attitude,” said Sharon Fryman, manager of volunteer services. “He is always willing to do what is asked of him, and Vic frequently goes above and beyond the call of duty to help make Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett a great place to be a patient or an employee. He is truly deserving of the honor.”

Vic has been a volunteer since 2015. However, he became familiar with the hospital back in 2005. That’s when his mom spent two weeks at Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett. That experience gave him an appreciation for the care provided by the employees-and by the hospital volunteers.

“It opened up my eyes to what it takes to provide care to patients 24 hours a day,” said Vic. “Just one week after I had retired, I came to Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett in search of a volunteer opportunity. I really wanted the chance to serve our community.  Being a part of Saint Francis-Bartlett gives me a lot of satisfaction.”

Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett’s 75 volunteers contributed nearly 18,000 hours of service in 2017. Since the hospital opened in 2004, they have donated more than 225,000 service hours to the hospital.