Marty's Blog
I'm Marty Gruber, one of the members in the Hero project. I joined this project mainly because I have a brother who is a Navy veteran. He was deployed to Iraq and served as a Corpsman in a Marine Engineer Division. He was also stationed in a naval hospital in Naples,Italy and was stationed in Dubai on a gun-boat. In addition to that, I have a general interest in the military and would like to help the people that protect our nation. They have done plenty for this country, so I feel obligated to do some work for them.
Day 1
Before we could preform any actual service, each member in our group needed to get the documents and authorization to become certified volunteers at the Veterans Affairs in Long Beach. What stuck out the most to me was how supportive the environment was. We were getting the documents from a veteran, and nearly every volunteer or employee who walked passed him asked him about his day or how he was doing. It was really inspiring to see a community come together and support and recognize an individual. I enjoyed talking with one of the many veterans I expect to interact with this year, and I'm excited to start working with the veteran community. Based off the way others were treating the veteran, I feel like I developed more respect for veterans. I made sure to say please and thank you to the volunteer veteran helping us out. Our group did a very good job at communicating with one another. We have a group text between us and keep each other informed of what we plan to do.
Day 2
The first day working in the hospital was incredible. As soon as I walked into the volunteer center I was given a very warm welcome by the other volunteers, veterans, and employees. While we (volunteers) were waiting on a job, one of the volunteers sitting next to me was a special forces veteran started asking me questions about myself and I started asking questions about him. It made me feel great that someone was genuinely interested in what is going on in my life and I had to say. He discussed his military experiences (which were personal, so I won't share them), which made me feel like we had a connection and that he could trust me. Although we have been through radically different experiences, we connected through our hardships, frustration, and hope for a better future. For my first job I was assigned to take a patient in a wheelchair from the imaging (x-ray and MRI) sector to the activities room. While transporting him, I got lost. He could have been angry with me, but instead he gave me some advice for navigating through the confusing hallways and told me some war stories. It seemed like he was happy just to have someone to talk to. Throughout my day I found that the best thing to do with the veterans was to listen. They had so much to say and advice to give. My experiences made me feel like a family member. I thoroughly enjoyed my first day and I'm excited to continue my work at the Veterans Affairs hospital. Because our group had a "group chat", we had good communication and our plans were well-thought-out.
Day 3
The second day of volunteering was a bit of a challenge because the volunteering center lost my file. My file had my tuberculosis test, orientation conformation, and my general information. As a result, I had to fill out the volunteer forums again and go to the occupational health office to get my tuberculosis test, which took about an hour. After that, I went to the VA police station to get an identification number and a new ID card. Once I had the proper paperwork, I was able to work in the volunteer center with the rest of our service learning group. Other than the problems I had at the beginning of the day, my remaining time went smoothly. Just like the last time, the people in the center gave me another warm welcome and we got to work. When I was not transporting a patient, I talked with the other volunteers in the center. Although I didn't have any memorable experiences transporting patients, I thoroughly enjoyed learning stories of the hospital and the military experiences of the veteran volunteers.
Day 4
Valentines Day seemed to be a popular day to volunteer at the VA. There were the most amount of volunteers I've seen there. Members of a female based organization went around the hospital to deliver gifts like flowers and candy to patients. Because there were so many volunteers in the hospital, there wasn't too much work for the usual volunteers to do. I showed a few other volunteers around different sectors of the hospital and walked only transported one patient. The most memorable part of the day was walking that one patient. I picked him up in the physical therapy sector of the hospital, which is in the basement. His doctors asked me to take him to radiation. We had a nice conversation about his time in the hospital, and when we passed the courtyard, he asked to go outside. It made me appreciate my physical abilities when I realized just how happy he was just to be outside in the sun. When I delivered him in radiation, we shook hands and he said thank you, which made me feel like I had a positive influence in his day.
Day 1
Before we could preform any actual service, each member in our group needed to get the documents and authorization to become certified volunteers at the Veterans Affairs in Long Beach. What stuck out the most to me was how supportive the environment was. We were getting the documents from a veteran, and nearly every volunteer or employee who walked passed him asked him about his day or how he was doing. It was really inspiring to see a community come together and support and recognize an individual. I enjoyed talking with one of the many veterans I expect to interact with this year, and I'm excited to start working with the veteran community. Based off the way others were treating the veteran, I feel like I developed more respect for veterans. I made sure to say please and thank you to the volunteer veteran helping us out. Our group did a very good job at communicating with one another. We have a group text between us and keep each other informed of what we plan to do.
Day 2
The first day working in the hospital was incredible. As soon as I walked into the volunteer center I was given a very warm welcome by the other volunteers, veterans, and employees. While we (volunteers) were waiting on a job, one of the volunteers sitting next to me was a special forces veteran started asking me questions about myself and I started asking questions about him. It made me feel great that someone was genuinely interested in what is going on in my life and I had to say. He discussed his military experiences (which were personal, so I won't share them), which made me feel like we had a connection and that he could trust me. Although we have been through radically different experiences, we connected through our hardships, frustration, and hope for a better future. For my first job I was assigned to take a patient in a wheelchair from the imaging (x-ray and MRI) sector to the activities room. While transporting him, I got lost. He could have been angry with me, but instead he gave me some advice for navigating through the confusing hallways and told me some war stories. It seemed like he was happy just to have someone to talk to. Throughout my day I found that the best thing to do with the veterans was to listen. They had so much to say and advice to give. My experiences made me feel like a family member. I thoroughly enjoyed my first day and I'm excited to continue my work at the Veterans Affairs hospital. Because our group had a "group chat", we had good communication and our plans were well-thought-out.
Day 3
The second day of volunteering was a bit of a challenge because the volunteering center lost my file. My file had my tuberculosis test, orientation conformation, and my general information. As a result, I had to fill out the volunteer forums again and go to the occupational health office to get my tuberculosis test, which took about an hour. After that, I went to the VA police station to get an identification number and a new ID card. Once I had the proper paperwork, I was able to work in the volunteer center with the rest of our service learning group. Other than the problems I had at the beginning of the day, my remaining time went smoothly. Just like the last time, the people in the center gave me another warm welcome and we got to work. When I was not transporting a patient, I talked with the other volunteers in the center. Although I didn't have any memorable experiences transporting patients, I thoroughly enjoyed learning stories of the hospital and the military experiences of the veteran volunteers.
Day 4
Valentines Day seemed to be a popular day to volunteer at the VA. There were the most amount of volunteers I've seen there. Members of a female based organization went around the hospital to deliver gifts like flowers and candy to patients. Because there were so many volunteers in the hospital, there wasn't too much work for the usual volunteers to do. I showed a few other volunteers around different sectors of the hospital and walked only transported one patient. The most memorable part of the day was walking that one patient. I picked him up in the physical therapy sector of the hospital, which is in the basement. His doctors asked me to take him to radiation. We had a nice conversation about his time in the hospital, and when we passed the courtyard, he asked to go outside. It made me appreciate my physical abilities when I realized just how happy he was just to be outside in the sun. When I delivered him in radiation, we shook hands and he said thank you, which made me feel like I had a positive influence in his day.
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