GREENFIELD — The small gift shop that sits just beyond Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s lobby will make a final $40,000 donation in a couple of weeks to the hospital’s new $26 million surgical wing.
Baystate Franklin Auxiliary, which runs the all-volunteer gift shop, pledged $200,000 five years ago and it made good on that promise.
Auxiliary President Diane Grybko of South Deerfield has been volunteering in the gift shop for as long as she can remember.
“We pledged $200,000 over five years,” Grybko said. “This is the fifth year and our last installment.”
She said the auxiliary will present a check to the hospital at its annual meeting in early November.
“It’s a great gift shop,” Grybko said. “We’re here to help in any way we can.”
Visitors can find everything from flowers, puzzle books, toys and hand-knit baby sweaters to used books, handmade cards, mugs, cookbooks, jewelry and more. Some of the volunteers say they buy items for stocking stuffers and gifts around the holidays. Grybko said many of the hospital’s staff shop there. Others, who happen to know about the gift shop because of previous visits to the hospital, come in, even if there’s no reason to be at the hospital.
A walk by or though the gift shop feels like a walk in an upscale department store. There are always new window displays, many of which reflect the season or an upcoming holiday. Currently, one window is decorated with Halloween items, including witches’ hats, spiders, pumpkins and scarecrows, all for sale. The other window to the hospital hallway, which is typically reserved for children’s items, is filled with stuffed animals and tiny, adorable outfits.
When asked how a small operation like the gift shop could afford to donate $200,000 over five years, Grybko said it’s because of the support of the hospital.
“We don’t have any overhead — no rent, no utilities,” she said. “All of the money we make, we donate back.”
Over the past 68 years — the gift shop opened its doors on Nov. 5, 1951 — the auxiliary has raised more than $2.2 million and contributed to many projects, including a mammography machine, ultrasound equipment, an infant abduction alarm system, a new meal delivery service, a birthing tub for the obstetrics unit, a range and broiler for the kitchen, a telemetry project, blanket warmers, coronary-care donations and more. Grybko said the auxiliary also offers up to $10,000 in scholarships each year to students pursuing health-care careers.
Grybko said the gift shop makes decisions on what it will donate by studying a “wish list” the hospital provides. The gift shop started by selling lemonade and bandages, and evolved from there to what it is today.
“Volunteers work tirelessly to run the shop, keep the books, order supplies, maintain floral arrangements, advertise, and host vendor sales and raffles, all in an effort to accrue funds that can be used to improve and enhance the patient experience at the hospital,” Grybko said. “Volunteers have always been an integral part of the hospital, with history showing the donation of a horse-drawn ambulance as one of the first donations from earlier volunteers, who started the organization and were known as the Board of Organized Workers.”
Grybko said people seem to be amazed when they visit the gift shop for the first time, expecting little more than a few bouquets of flowers and a few cards and books.
“We had a staff doctor come in for the first time one day and was totally surprised,” she said.
Fifteen people serve on the auxiliary’s board, Grybko said, which meets nine times a year. She said dozens of volunteers take turns working different shifts in the gift shop — some working three, four or five times a month.
“This is an amazing group,” Grybko said. “Everyone loves what they’re doing.”
The gift shop is open Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Sundays from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
For information about volunteering in the gift shop, call Becky George, manager of volunteer services, at 413-773-2318 or 413-773-2204, or email her at: becky.george@baystatehealth.org.
Reach Anita Fritz at
413-772-0261, ext. 269 or afritz@recorder.com.