Red Cross Volunteer Marks 73 Years of Service

Photo By Andrew Damstedt | Mary Bochanis, 91, has volunteered with the American Red Cross since 1943. Bochanis pushes the comfort cart down the hallways of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center every Thursday.  

BETHESDA, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES

04.18.2016

Story by Andrew Damstedt 

Naval Support Activity Bethesda

In 1943, Big Bands were topping the music charts, the United States was embroiled in World War II and Mary Bochanis started volunteering for the American Red Cross at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC).
Now, 73 years later, at age 91, Bochanis still brings a smile to those she serves as she pushes the comfort cart down Walter Reed National Military Medical Center’s (WRNMMC) halls.
“It was just something that I knew I had to do,” Bochanis said. “I can’t imagine anyone staying at home and not doing anything.”
She said everyone was volunteering to help the war effort while she was studying at George Washington University pursuing a degree in merchandising.
“Everyone was volunteering; my mother was wrapping bandages,” Bochanis said. “There just wasn’t a soul that wasn’t doing something. We had to; we had to do it.”
She met her husband, Charles ‘Gus’ Bochanis, while he was recovering from injuries sustained during World War II, including an amputated leg.
“I was kidding my husband that the reason I dated him was because he was on crutches,” Bochanis said. “We never stood in a line, we never picked up a check, we went to the movies and we just walked right in. It had a lot of perks.”
But she said she wishes that her husband, who died in 2006, could see the technological improvements that have been made for amputees in the past 10 years.
“My husband had to wear straps and I can’t begin to tell you the stuff to hold up the prostheses,” she said. “Today you put it on. I wish he was here to see it. Every Saturday I had to wash the stump socks.”
While there are more than 600 volunteers for the Red Cross at NSAB, Bochanis is one of three who are older than 90 years old. Bernie Glassman, 95, volunteers in outpatient physical therapy and Lina Czubas, 92, volunteers in the pharmacy.
“And they’re not sitting at a desk,” said Mary Leggit, American Red Cross Bethesda volunteer chair.
Leggit said Bochanis has a way of making people know they’re important to her.
“She is just a joy,” Leggit said. “She comes in with a smile and she leaves with a smile … it’s something about her touch, she touches people, I mean physically she will put her hands on people and give them a warm squeeze or a hug. She’s just a warm person.”
Bochanis, a self-described hugger, said she will settle on shaking hands if they don’t want a hug.
Leggit said the medical center staff looks forward to seeing her each week as she makes the rounds with the comfort cart. Bochanis said she enjoys giving away the supplies on the comfort cart, where she said she is especially adept at giving away Girl Scout cookies.
“It’s a wonderful service, sometimes people come here and they don’t have anything like toothpaste or toothbrushes, we carry all of that,” she said. “You name it, we got it and if we don’t, we’ll go out and buy it.”
In addition to her volunteer work for the American Red Cross, Bochanis volunteers one day a week at the National Institutes of Health Children’s Inn and has volunteered with her church, St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, for several years.
Bochanis continues to volunteer because she likes the camaraderie and enjoys meeting people. She recounted a recent encounter with a 3-year-old girl who was trying to blow bubbles in a room in the pediatrics department.
“She couldn’t do it, so I spent 10 minutes with her blowing bubbles,” Bochanis said. “I thought it was so special that I was able to do that for her. She seemed to enjoy it.”
She said she feels a special connection to the spouses of amputees, having been one herself so she’ll tell them of her own experiences.
“Living with an amputee, it’s different,” she said. “You have to be really aware of the injuries and the psychological part.”
Hospital Corpsman Third Class Diandra Thompson, who volunteers with the Red Cross, said working with Bochanis has been a pleasure and that everyone looks forward to Thursdays when Bochanis takes around the comfort cart.
“They love her, especially the kids – they love her so much,” Thompson said.
She said Bochanis is someone she wants to emulate.
“She’s so young for her age,” Thompson said. “She always makes me smile. Even if you’re sad, she always makes you smile.”
Bochanis said she plans on volunteering as long as she can.
“We just hope Mary is going to volunteer forever,” said Joan Goldberg, American Red Cross volunteer. “When she can't drive, I'm picking her up.”

• Date Taken: 04.18.2016
• Date Posted: 04.21.2016 09:28
• Story ID: 196050
• Location: BETHESDA, MARYLAND, US