- April 23, 2024
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June Hambleton delivers trays of food to patients all over the hospital (Photos by Emily Blackwood).
June Hambleton has been an auxiliary volunteer for nearly 20 years.
June Hambleton visits with a patient who just had a baby.
June Hambleton says she'll work as a volunteer as long as she's able to.
Every night, June Hambleton eats a big bowl of ice cream.
"With my diet, I should be very heavy, " she laughed. "I love sweets."
Her work delivering trays to patients as an auxiliary volunteer for the Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center has helped her maintain her sugar-filled diet. Hambleton wears a pedometer and says she walks anywhere from four to six miles during her four-hour shift.
"I was never very heavy," said the 94 year old, "but I'm pretty light now."
Hambleton has been volunteering with the hospital for nearly two decades. She started in 1998 after her husband, Fred Hambleton, passed away from cancer. She describes her husband as a "very active man," and together they were always doing something. They met while serving in World War II and started dating right away. It wasn't long before they eloped.
"We got into arguments about little things," she smiled, remembering. "I got mad at him one time, got out of the car and slammed the door. He didn't talk to me for a few days. He saw my brother and he told him to go see me. I remember it was a Friday night. We went to a park, and he said 'Do you think we'd get along better if we got married?' I said 'I don't know,' and we got married on Monday."
The two, who were married for 52 years, didn't tell anybody about their engagement for awhile. June Hambleton was the middle child of her family, and said that people didn't pay much attention to her, so she did whatever she wanted.
"I always made my own decisions," including joining the army when she was 21 years old, she said. "Most of it turned out okay. I definitely married the right man."
And when the right man died four months after they moved into a brand new house in Ormond Beach, June Hambleton continued to do what she was best for her.
"I knew I had to get out of the house and get around people," she said. "I needed to get out and do something rather that sit around and feel sorry for myself. I think it was the smartest thing I ever did."
During her time volunteering at the hospital, June Hambleton said she's met a lot of nice, interesting people, and the workers who have been there from the beginning feel like old friends.
"It really does keep me occupied," she said. "If I didn't have that to think about, I would probably be thinking about other things that wouldn't do me any good. You can't just roll up, sit in a corner and do nothing. That's the worst thing you can do."
