When Brenda Mihan volunteered for her first shift at Princeton Hospital in 1964, the Beatles were taking the country by storm and Lyndon Baines Johnson was in the White House. Mihan recently celebrated her 50th anniversary as a volunteer at the hospital, now known as the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro.
When the hospital moved from its original Princeton location to a new facility in Plainsboro two years ago, Mihan, a West Windsor resident, made the trip as well. “I don’t have to cross Route 1 and parking is easier,” she says.
She maintains a regular presence at the reception desk and in the hospital’s medical library. “I don’t know what else I would do,” she says. “Volunteering is something I’ve always done, through the Junior League of Greater Princeton and my church, and volunteering at the hospital has been such a great experience. I’ve met so many interesting people over the years.”
Mihan was raised in Elizabeth, where her mother was a nursery school teacher and her father worked at Bank of Newark. Her parents volunteered often — usually for the church. Mihan volunteered at a hospital as a teen. “I always had working at the hospital in my blood,” she said. She began as a nursing major but decided to work as a researcher with a pharmaceutical company.
Mihan moved to Dutch Neck in 1967. “The date 1911 is etched in the cement on the porch,” she says. “I celebrated the house’s 100th birthday three years ago.”
Active in First Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church, she is in the choir and serves on several committees. She also sings with the Trenton Community Singers, drives senior citizens to medical appointments, and works at voting polls.
“It’s been an interesting experience all these years,” says Mihan. “I’m the first one on record who has worked for 50 years.” Mihan, a longtime member of the 5 & 20 Club at the hospital, which recognizes adult volunteers who have served 5,000 or more hours or at least 20 years, has clocked more than 8,000 hours in her years volunteering at the hospital. Her goal is to ultimately reach 10,000 hours.
Princeton HealthCare System held a surprise reception in the medical library recently to mark the 50-year milestone.
“Volunteering is an act that goes beyond an individual giving of their time,” said Edward Callahan, director of volunteer services. “When people serve, they are also donating their talent and energy. Brenda’s service is no exception. We’ll never be able to count all of the ways in which she helped. However, her 50 years of dedication and service to our patients and their families prove that one person can truly make a difference.”
The volunteer program provides vital support to UMCPP with close to 400 volunteers — including adults, college students, and teens serving on a regular basis. Volunteers contributed approximately 60,000 hours of service in 2013. Visit www.princetonhcs.org/volunteers for information.
