BIDMC Volunteer Recognition and Awards

Boris Kustonovich

This award was established in 1996 in memory of Debby Henry, Volunteer Service Director from 1980 to 1995. It is awarded to an outstanding volunteer who has at least 5 years of service, a minimum of 500 hours and who best exemplifies the "Spirit of Volunteerism". Since he first arrived at BIDMC in 2003 a volunteer, Boris Kustonovich has devoted approximately 1,000 hours per year, totaling over 11,000, regularly coming in four days per week to greet, escort, and comfort patients and assist staff members in a multitude of ways in the GI procedural areas. Nobody expressed more eagerness to return to volunteering than Boris, who checked in regularly in hopes of hearing good news. Boris' team in the GI procedure clinic felt the loss of his presence, as did the patients, who have loved being welcomed and cheered up by Boris for years, where he has been a delightful fixture. When permitted to return, Boris dove right back in, returning to his four-day per week schedule. His expression of gratitude for being able to return was truly remarkable and heartwarming, as was the degree to which his return elevated the morale of his team in GI. Boris' dedication and tenacious commitment to the BIDMC community is an inspiration to us all.

Navin Jayaswal

The Ambassador Award was established in 2004 to honor a volunteer who has contributed at least 100 hours and who represents the medical center with a consistently positive attitude toward all patients, visitors and staff. Contributing 500 hours, Navin started volunteering in high school, continued during college breaks, and then got a job BIDMC clinical research assistant, during which he has regularly visited Volunteer Services to ask how he can help. In addition to graciously tackling numerous tedious volunteer projects, Navin also co-managed the highly complex patient voting initiative. A week prior to the 2020 election, Navin created packets with emergency absentee ballot applications for each inpatient unit. On Election Day, Navin traversed the hospital collecting the completed applications, then began a marathon of running the applications downtown to city hall, picking up patients' ballots, running them back to the patients, and running the completed ballots back to city hall for processing. He worked into the night to ensure that every patient who wanted to was able to vote. We never could have pulled this off without Navin, and it meant the world to our patients to be able to vote. We will miss him as he heads of too medical school this fall, and hope he returns to BIDMC as a physician in the future!

Srinath Sundar and Michael Fiorentino

The Agress Award was established in 2018 to honor and applaud the devotion, stewardship and care that Trudy Agress gave to BIDMC. Trudy established the Volunteer Workshop that supported many areas of the hospital for over 50 years. This award acknowledges a volunteer who exemplifies the criteria that made Trudy, her husband Alfred, and her team in the Volunteer Workshop a legend at BIDMC: punctual weekly attendance; accuracy regarding projects that enhance the care and safety of patients and staff; devotion to the mission of the hospital and its core values of integrity, respect, compassion, excellence, and stewardship; flexibility and determination regarding tasks and deadlines. Srinath Sundar and Michael Fiorentino exemplify these qualities. They enthusiastically arrive each Wednesday to assist with a variety of clerical tasks in the Volunteer Services office. They have made numerous improvements in our office, including creating an impressive online library catalog for our donated books, which made it much easier for us to search our collection when patients requested certain books or authors. They have also meticulously updated hundreds of records in our volunteer database, aiding in our efforts to reduce paper usage. Their positive attitudes, versatility, and dedication to Volunteer Services have been inspirational and we are so grateful to have them on the team!

Arabella Riedel

Established in 2009, this award is given each year to a volunteer who has displayed commitment and a positive attitude to "shine a light" on the BIDMC community during the evening or weekend hours. This year's award goes to Arabella Riedel, who devoted her evenings and weekends to assist us remotely with a variety of projects. No job proved two large for Arabella, who graciously accepted boxes and bags of loose papers, glue sticks, and scissors, and sent back finished products in better-than-expected condition. She laminated countless cards sent in by other community members, so that we could preserve and display them in public spaces. She also helped create face pins for providers and staff members to wear, cutting hundreds of photos to size, so that patients could see their smiling faces. Perhaps most notable, Arabella designed beautiful hand-made cards to encourage staff, coloring and puzzle books for patients, and even Spanish language word-search books, bringing immeasurable inspiration and joy to staff members and patients. Arabella was a member of the 2019 Agress Summer Health Corps, and has also volunteered in Labor and Delivery and Antepartum/Postpartum, contributing over 200 hours thus far. We are looking forward to seeing her in person this summer!

The Rose Award was established in 2004 in honor of Rose Finkelstein and is awarded to an outstanding volunteer contributing to new mothers and/or newborns. The volunteer must have volunteered a minimum of 500 hours.

This year's recipient is Michelle Roselli. Michelle began mentoring in 2012 and in her tenure has supported so many new families in the amazing and often overwhelming adjustment to parenthood. Michelle's warm humor and caring approach make it easy for new parents to share both their struggles and their joys. In the words of one family, "Michelle was great. She gave me such encouragement and validated all my efforts. She reassured me that I was indeed doing my best and that my best is enough."

One family in particular sticks out in my memory. Michelle had been speaking to both mom and dad. During one conversation, mom shared that she was ready to make the switch from breastfeeding to formula feeding but felt by doing so, she'd disappoint dad, as he was so encouraging and supportive. Michelle asked mom if she could share this conversation with dad, and when she did, dad expressed that he had no idea how mom felt and was glad Michelle had let him know as he too felt that the best plan for the family was to make the switch to formula!

Michelle brings to this work, wisdom, genuineness and a sincere desire to support families in the transition from hospital to home and throughout the 4th trimester. She is a gem and an integral part of the Parent Connection team.

Sophie Gregoretti

This award was established in 2004 to formally acknowledge leadership and service by a volunteer 18 or under who has volunteered for at least 1 year, contributed a minimum of 100 hours and who exemplifies leadership skills as a model to other volunteers. This year's recipient is Sophie Gregoretti. If you happen to see photographs of BIDMC nurses reacting happily to a delivery of food or treat donations during the pandemic, you might notice the Volunteer Services Carts, which were decorated with playful and encouraging posters made by Sophie. Her beautiful posters were also used to decorate staff "zen dens", rooms that were used by staff members for relaxation. Sophie also hand-made and assembled over 200 origami cards for patients, each of which was intricately folded and contained a personal message of inspiration and compassion. Sophie never stopped asking how she could help, and demonstrated remarkable foresight about our needs and determination to make an impact, despite not being able to volunteer onsite. In addition to her artistic talents, Sophie was a member of the 2019 Agress Summer Corps, and has also volunteered in Labor and Delivery. All told, she had contributed over 100 hours by the end of 2020. We are so grateful to Sophie for her outstanding service and leadership.

Andrew Yeager and Alex Strelko

The Jack Arvedon Award, established in 2001, is given to a volunteer who has shown the most flexibility, commitment and positive attitude over the year. This year's award is shared by Andrew Yeager and Alex Strelko. Andrew and Alex came to our rescue when, during the first several months of the pandemic, BIDMC started receiving hundreds of donated dinners each week from nonprofit organizations such as Off Their Plate, Feed the Frontlines, and Feed the Fight, as well as from other donors. There is no possible way that the Volunteer Services staff could have managed these bountiful deliveries without the delivery assistance of Andrew and Alex, who often were called upon at the last minute. Andrew and Alex could always be counted on to traverse the campus with carts overflowing with healthy nourishment for our hard-working providers, and to deliver the meals with a smile and a "thank you" for each person they encountered. Their flexibility despite full time jobs allowed us to accept more donations than we otherwise could have. We can never overestimate the enormous impact Andrew and Alex made on employee morale during the most difficult months. As volunteer programs reopen, Andrew is looking forward to becoming a patient experience rounder, while Alex is helping to restart the Brain Builders program.

The following volunteers are recognized for the number of hours and years that they have served at BIDMC as of the end of 2020: