tamatoledonews.com – IOWA CITY (SPECIAL) – The Iowa City VA Health Care System (VAHCS) celebrates America’s most valuable national resource during National Volunteer Week, April 10 -16. A ceremony honoring health care system volunteers will be Wednesday, April 20, at 10 a.m., at the Moose Lodge, 3151 Highway 6, Iowa City.

Last year, volunteers accounted for 85,530 hours of work in the health care system. Their duties range from traditional roles as patient escorts, to more specialized work as transportation drivers. Currently, there are 447 volunteers in the Iowa City VA Health Care System.

“Young or old – student, middle age, or retiree, there is a fulfilling volunteer role for everyone at the VA Health Care System,”said Mike Foster, Volunteer Service Officer. “Our youngest volunteer last year was only 14 and our oldest is 90. There’s plenty of room in our program for all those in between,” he said.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service (VAVS) is the largest centralized volunteer program in the federal government. In fiscal year 2010, approximately 140,000 active VAVS volunteers contributed over 12.5 million hours of service. VAVS volunteers and their organizations contributed an estimated $107 million in gifts and donations in fiscal year2010.

As summer approaches, the Iowa City VAHCS wants to remindteenagers of the opportunities to both serve and learn as a VA student volunteers. “It’s a great learning and maturing process for young adults.” said Foster. “They work alongside top-notch health care professionals and work with a living part of our American History – Veterans who have served their country since World War II making the history they study and read about.”

National Volunteer Week is a good time to find out more about being a VA volunteer. If you want more information, call Mike Foster, Volunteer Services Officer, at (319) 339-7129.