2016 Heart of a Volunteer Award Recipient: Marjorie Runyon

Marjorie Runyon

Marjorie with husband I thoroughly enjoy people," says Marjorie "Margie" Runyon, recipient of the 2016 Claire Bauer Heart of a Volunteer Award. To date, Margie has volunteered at Carson Valley Medical Center for nine years - starting in 2008, and has given approximately 1,600 hours of her time to CVMC.

Margie and her late husband William moved to the Carson Valley from southern California after their retirement in 1999. Margie had raised their two children, Cynthia and Richard, while also holding a career as an X-ray Technologist since 1956.

Shortly after moving to the Carson Valley, Margie began volunteering for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office at the Tillman Road substation, where she assisted with answering phone calls from the public, vacation checks, dog licensing, and other clerical duties. In 2003 she joined the DCSO Citizen Patrol, allowing Margie the opportunity to get out and about in the community in a marked vehicle with a variety of duties that included more vacation checks, parking enforcement, natural disaster response, and special events. When Margie joined the CVMC Auxiliary in 2008, she continued her work with the Sheriff's Office, and still does today.

"I spent my career in healthcare and volunteering at the hospital really gives me time for more one-on-one interaction with people," says Margie of her transition to including CVMC in her volunteer pursuits. "I think I can read people when they walk in that door -- if they're worried, if they're upset -- where they're coming from. You just know, and then you know how to greet them."

At CVMC, Margie's role is to do just that - help patients feel welcomed and comfortable when they enter the hospital, assist them in finding the people or department(s) that they came to visit, answering phone inquiries, and provides minor clerical support to departments as needed.

Margie currently gives two days of the week back to her community - one day to Carson Valley Medical Center and one day to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. The rest of the week she keeps herself busy with getting ample fresh air and exercise, going to the gym, working in her yard, and quilting. Margie is an avid quilter and has produced many a quilt for her friends, neighbors, and even friends that she has made through the Auxiliary. "Margie's energy, her passion for helping people, and her quick wit are all qualities that radiate off of her when you meet her," says CVMC's volunteer services coordinator Becky Hanson. "She brightens the day of so many patients who enter our doors."

"I'm so thankful. I just love to give back to my community," Margie says of what keeps her coming back to volunteer. "I can't wait to come, I look forward to it. It makes me happy, and I get to be happy today."