On a perfect Maine summer day, president Gloria Wakefield, welcomed our members and volunteers to our celebration of gathering together and thanking each other for our individual volunteer contributions to our mission of serving our community. Our celebration included a delicious lunch, exquisitely prepared and served, by the staff, at the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club on Wednesday, July 17.

Our annual appreciation luncheon has become a summer highlight to celebrate multiple areas of volunteerism within the Auxiliary. Some members serve with patients’ activities, through music and sewing projects, at St. Andrews Village, Cove's Edge and the Miles Hospital campus or act as volunteer greeters at St. Andrews Urgent Care – site of the original St. Andrews Hospital.  

Other members staff the all-volunteer St. Andrews Auxiliary Thrift Shop which provides bargains for customers and revenues for much of our non-profit donations toward healthcare scholarships and local medical community healthcare services. 

Among the special guests at our luncheon were Cheryl Wusterbarth, director of St. Andrews Village, Reven Oliver, director of Development & Philanthropy, LincolnHealth. Julie DeLong, MaineHealth philanthropy officer and Pastor Steve Murray and his wife Julie. 

LincolnHealth President & CEO Cindy Wade thanked the Auxiliary membership for their active volunteerism and support. She shared community updates and introduced featured speaker, Beth Kessler, director of the Nurses Improving Care for Health systems Elders (NICHE), a new program implemented in February 2024 at Miles hospital. This program was funded with a $10,000 donation by St. Andrews Auxiliary. 

Beth shared with us the successes, at the Miles campus, of the award-winning national nursing practice model that positions nurses to lead substantive changes in the design and delivery of nursing care to improve clinical outcomes, reduce cost of care, and meet national quality  goals. This cost-effective and scalable practice model develops workforce competences in geriatric nursing and integrates evidence-based practice guidelines that enables nurses to manage common health conditions and hospital-acquired complications that disproportionately affect older adults. 

As an all volunteer nonprofit organization, we continually welcome new members who would like to serve as a volunteer in one of our many on-going community service activities. 

If you are interested in joining our Auxiliary, please visit our Membership/Volunteer Corner at the St. Andrews Auxiliary Thrift Shop. View our programs and interview videos on You Tube –St.Andrews Auxiliary or follow us on Facebook –St.Andrews Auxiliary –Thrift Shop.