News

Jeff Morris
Volunteer - Front Desk
Healthpark Medical Office Building
The Importance of Caring | my journey into volunteering

A year and a half ago, Jeff Morris experienced some serious health problems that required a stay at Columbus Community Hospital. When he was hospitalized, he said, the volunteers he and his wife Kelli encountered were incredibly helpful. “I vowed that if I got the chance to do that for somebody else, I would,” he said.

Now, Morris has his opportunity: He’s one of the front desk volunteers at Healthpark Medical Office Building (MOB). “I consider myself to be one of the good kinds of MOBsters,” he quips.

Before he retired, Morris was involved in several different careers, but he spent the bulk of his working years as a basketball coach at Twin River Public Schools. “I liked practices and game preparation more than the games, because that’s where success starts,” he said. “If your team is prepared for competition, they will have confidence. If they are fundamentally sound and play good defense, you will be competitive. This doesn’t happen by osmosis — it takes work.”

He was also involved in human services, working for both Boys Town and Goodwill Industries. “Trying to be of service to other has always mattered to me,” he said.

Now, he is enjoying retirement because it gives him an opportunity to both volunteer and be a dad and grandpa. He and Kelli have three sons. “As a father, you always pray your kids will grow up to be better than you are,” he said. “They did. True, it’s not exactly a high bar that was set …”

“I stopped smoking 39 years ago and quit drinking 38 years ago, and that changed my life,” he added. “I do the best I can to lead a God-pleasing life. I also smile at all children when I see them, and I encourage other men and women to do so too, because kids need to know there are good people in the world.”

Morris cultivates a special relationship with his grandchildren by writing books for them. Each book is specific to the grandchild for which it is written. “I use Photoshop to make them illustrated stories, and then I make them each a character in their own story,” he said. “I try to make the stories humorous and fun.”

Working at the medical office building, Morris said, has given him an opportunity to truly make a difference in other people’s lives. “When people come, they are often fighting battles we don’t know anything about,” he said. “It can be a bit scary and confusing. If something as simple as pointing them in the right direction can help, then I need to be there doing it. I try to be a smiling, friendly person.”

Not only is his volunteer job helpful to other people, he said, but it’s incredibly fun for him, too.

“I have run into so many people I have known most of my life, but haven’t seen in decades,” he said. “It has been a lot of fun to reconnect with them and, at the same time, be of help, even minimally. I am thoroughly enjoying myself.”

To learn more about volunteer opportunities available at the hospital, visit columbushosp.org.