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Grace Cole Jones is a model of reliability: She's been volunteering at Norwalk Hospital for more than five decades. "My car automatically comes up this way, turns around and then on a Friday or so, I go get gasoline," said the 94-year-old resident of Greenwich. She is so devoted that the hospital's gift store is named for her and because she started it.
When she first began volunteering at the hospital, she took a job nobody wanted, manning the gift cart. "There was no shop," she said. "None of the hospitals had them then." When her children went to college, she made her post more elaborate, turning the cart into a store, with the help of her late husband. The gift store has grown, now featuring a boutique-like atmosphere and a selection of clothing.
The gift shop has only one paid employee, and all of its proceeds benefit the services and programs of Norwalk Hospital, representing the largest source of funds raised by volunteers. "It's a shop that does some good," said Jones. "I always say the church is a theory. But this is practice. It's not just selling something. From it, we can do something with it." The Norwalk Hospital Volunteers group has donated 19 ambulances to the hospital.
Jones was born on the campus of University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Thanks to her efforts to recruit children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she is part of eight generations of her family to attend Penn. She met her husband, who was from England, there. They were married in 1939; the union lasted until his death 68 years later.
Jones, who still volunteers two or three days a week in the gift store, attended Penn as well. "I majored in botany and zoology," she said. "How I ever got into retailing I'll never know. But it just stuck to me like glue."
What do you think the secret to longevity is? Do you know a longtime volunteer who is helping our community? Please share their story below!
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