Volunteer Annette Ahlfs: Touching Lives at Glencoe Regional Health

1,213 lives. At a minimum, that’s how many lives Annette Ahlfs, GRH Environmental Services Specialist, has impacted.

Annette has worked at GRH for 27 years and began volunteering at GRH a few years ago – or, 416 surgical caps ago. When she received an email looking for volunteers to sew caps, Annette was quick to volunteer.

The caps are worn by pediatric patients during surgery – each child picks out their own cap from a variety of bright patterns and colors.

“Surgery is scary for kids,” said Annette. “Having a fun cap brings them a little comfort and eases their fears.”

The caps are just the beginning. Annette also sews ice pack covers used across the facility, Foley bag covers for patients requiring catheters, burp cloths for our littlest patients at our Birth Center, and “angel blankets” for parents who have lost their baby. After Annette sews the soft blankets, a small angel is added to them. She recalls the impactful moment when she delivered the first bundle of blankets.

“The nurse said, ‘Oh, God must have sent you,’ because we needed a blanket that day. Someone had a stillborn baby,” said Annette. “I got goosebumps. It’s so hard when you lose a baby. Hopefully the blankets bring some comfort to those parents.”

Annette has also volunteered at many GRH events and serves on the Monarch Waystation Committee for Prairie Trail.

“When there’s an opportunity to help and it’s something I can do, I’ll raise my hand and do it,” said Annette.

Letters of Hope

When quarantine began in early 2020, Annette still found a way to touch the lives of others.

While our GlenFields residents were unable to have visitors, our team created a pen pal program, which matched up GRH staff with a resident they could write letters to each week. Annette, of course, was eager to get involved right away.

“It was fun,” Annette said. “My pen pal was my inspiration to start drawing again.”

Annette enjoys all things creative, such as painting and drawing. She’d set down her charcoal and watercolors while raising her kids, but writing to her resident inspired her to start creating again. Her pen pal was a former farmer, so Annette painted images of the fields, blooming crabapple trees, and colorful flowers.

“I wanted to bring the outside world in through my drawings,” said Annette.

While cleaning rooms at GlenFields, Annette noticed her resident had hung up her drawings in his room. He’d also gifted some of the drawings to others to spread the cheer. Eventually, one of the household coordinators made a book with all of Annette’s drawings in it, now located in the household’s living room for all to enjoy.

“Those letters were good for both of us,” said Annette. “Staff said he really looked forward to them, and he got me back into drawing and painting.”

As for Annette’s volunteer work, she has no plans of slowing down.

“When I retire – then I’ll have even more time,” said Annette. “Just think what I can do then!”