Volunteering means different things to different people, but volunteering at Shriners Hospital in Galveston always offers you:

• A sense of accomplishment - that you are helping children and their families
• A feeling of belonging to something bigger
  

Benefits include:

• Appreciation events
• Participation in employee activities
• Comprehensive recognition program
• An active Auxiliary membership, with membership dues of only $5/year (Auxiliary membership offers additional benefits)
• Certification of community service hours
• Scheduling flexibility
• Training

Who Can Volunteer?

Shriners Hospital in Galveston offers equal consideration for anyone wishing to volunteer. Some basic requirements:

• Minimum 18 years of age (coming soon, a Jr. volunteer program)
• Agree to a background check
• Submit to a health screening, offered free of charge at the hospital
• If you have any limitations:
• We are pleased to consider you and make reasonable adjustments to assist with your volunteer duties
• A note from your physician may be required
• Time commitment requested:
• Minimum of 50 hours per year
• For at least 6 months, unless working in a project based volunteer position

Volunteer Categories

In order to accommodate the various interests of volunteers, we have four primary categories of volunteers:

• Auxiliary- membership: based organization that works closely with the hospital
• In-Service: non-auxiliary volunteers
• Hospital Transportation Corps: El Mina Center Shriners  transport our patients locally (drivers)
• Group: volunteers who complete volunteer hours through an organization together, usually special programs for patients and families

Most local Shriners have a transportation program to help  transport patients to the various Shriners Hospitals. If you are a Shriner interested in volunteering, please contact your Shriners office for more details.

In addition to the categories, we offer three "status" levels:

• Active - minimum 50 hours per year
• Flexible - consistent, long-term commitment, but less than 50 hours per year
• Inactive - less than 50 hours per year, not including those on flexible status

Volunteer Areas

Volunteers work in areas all through the hospital, in a wide variety of positions and duties.

Generally, we offer two types of opportunities:

Direct Patient Contact

• Child life
• Pet therapy
• School room
• Clinic
• Rehabilitation
• Care coordination
• Surgery
• Intensive care unit

Little or No Patient Contact

• Public relations
• Administration
• Psychiatry
• Medical sculpture
• Graphic arts

I'm Interested... What Next?

The application process is easy - simply download the appropriate application package (group or individual volunteer); complete it and mail or fax it back to us:

Attn: Volunteer Services
815 Market Street
Galveston, TX 77550

FAX: (409) 770-6563

The application and all associated forms must be signed in order to be considered. An original application package must be delivered to the hospital prior to volunteering.

Once the application is received, a background check is processed, references checked and a phone interview completed by volunteer services. Upon completion of these initial efforts, interviews with the appropriate department(s) will be scheduled. Depending on availability of interviewers and prospective volunteers, the process generally takes up to three weeks to complete. If you wish to volunteer for the purposes of community service hours, please take this timeline into consideration when making application.