Banner Health’s newly remodeled Gift Shop at the McKee Medical center is designed to bring elements of Colorado outdoors inside. To be more inviting and, because of it’s retail supervisor, a safe place for patients and visitors to feel free to talk and to be themselves during rough times. The gift shop turned out absolutely beautiful and the space, though small is well laid out to hold multiple treasures. They offer so many gifts from the flowers, snacks, and baby booties for your basic visits to unique clothing, and jewelry just right for that person who is difficult to buy for (even yourself). The space reflects the natural beauty of the Colorado outdoors. Colorado-based Magnolia River Manufacturing Corp. in Fort Collins crafted wooden fixtures and wood panels for the walls, made with reclaimed hickory, walnut and Siberian elm and redesigned the space to double the retail space. The skilled craftmanship helps make this space a warm, and inviting place, However, the most valuable treasures are the manager and volunteers running the gift shop.
I had the pleasure of meeting with Jessie Robideau McKee’s gift shop retail supervisor who helped renovate the store. Jessie knows all too well how a gift shop can be a sanctuary for patients and their family in the hospital. When she was 12, Jessie was diagnosed with a severe form of Hodgkin Lymphoma and was told she had only two weeks to live. Her treatment was grueling. She underwent chemotherapy for 20 hours on, four hours off, five days a week. Imagine a child with such a heavy diagnosis, her hair falling out, her mother crying, and being unsure of her future. Within those short four hours, this is when Jessie found the gift shop at the hospital. It was her solace, her happy place where she could escape and be a kid again. Her first visit to the gift shop she bought a tin of candy which she still has to this day. Though she had a hard time walking down the halls she visited the gift shop to escape and be a kid as often as she could.
Janice Greeno, McKee volunteer resources manager filled me in on how McKee itself is much like a family with how they partner with different branches like the McKee Foundation (which matched funds) to fund and create better spaces for patients and community. The gift shop proceeds go to so many things including giving back to the hospital for programs and patients, 3D mammography technology, Infant warmers for the Women and Infant Services Department, flat screen televisions for patient rooms, new furniture for the large ICU Waiting room, and a grant for renovations to the cardiopulmonary gym renovations currently in progress.
Jessie and her incredible staff of volunteers have gone the extra mile to be there for families, patients and others who need a kind and loving shoulder to rest their heads on. A flexible ear to bend. While at the store I had the pleasure of seeing how the staff at McKee is really more of a family rather than just a retail store.
Other than Jessie the manager, the shop is staffed solely by volunteers, some of whom have been at the gift shop 17 plus years. After, speaking to some of the volunteers including Corinne Adams, a 13 year volunteer, I can tell you that these ladies are humble, kind and they are there because they love to be there. There are many openings within the McKee and Banner programs and Melissa Wiederspan, Volunteer Coordinator and Volunteer Resources for McKee Medical Center & Banner Fort Collins Medical Center explained that they welcome volunteers for the gift shop and many other locations. If you are interested in the many volunteer options, please fill out the McKee Medical Center Volunteer Application or the Fort Collins Medical Center Volunteer Application, email or call Melissa at 970-820-4166.
