NMC has a team of 75 volunteers who help the organization be a welcoming place that is easy to navigate. Volunteers at NMC serve as greeters at information desks, couriers, help in the Gift Gallery and Courtyard Café, and much more. The volunteers have interesting backgrounds and interests – here’s one example.

 

Maris S Rock,

Volunteer at the Main Lobby Information Desk and the Gift Gallery for the past 13 years.

Tell us about your career path over the years

I graduated in 1966 from Champlain College’s Medical Secretary Program. I started my career at Bishop DeGoesbriand Hospital, in the Medical Records Department, typing discharge summaries and OR reports.

I did this for 5 years, then left to get married and had my 2 sons. I returned to work in 1979 as a unit secretary at MCHV, in the Baird 4 Orthopaedics department. In 1989, I went to work at University Orthopaedics and was the OR scheduling secretary for 5 of the Orthopaedics Surgeons. I retired in 1996 and started as a volunteer at NMC in 2012.

What do you enjoy about volunteering at NMC?

I enjoy meeting new people and have the ability to help them while at this facility.

What hobbies do you have or what kinds of things do you do in your free time?

I play golf, I love to garden, I enjoy the beach and also going antiquing.

What’s something people may not know about you that you’d like to share?

I was able to walk 18 holes of golf watching my favorite golfer, Phil Mickelson, compete in the President’s Cup in Montreal in 2009.

What’s your dream vacation?

My dream vacation is going to the ocean and listening to the sound of the waves hitting the shore. In 2015, I went with my sisters and niece to Sicily to visit the island and town of my father’s birthplace – that’s a memory I will always treasure.

What historical figure would you like to have dinner with? And why?

Eleanor Roosevelt, as she was a leader both for women and human rights.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about yourself?

I was just elected President of the NMC Auxiliary, this past May and am also Membership Chair for the Auxiliary since 2013. I was also a Past President of the Ladies Golf Association at Champlain Country Club for 6 years, Secretary for 2 years and Treasurer for 2 years.