Staying connected to family, friends, and community groups helps people remain vital and interested in the world around them. Activities like volunteering are especially important because they allow intergenerational contact and provide opportunities for people to contribute to society—something that gives them a sense of purpose.

Resident Bill Allred can certainly attest to that. Bill, who moved to URC in 2005, volunteers at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento. He acts as a Tour Guide, taking guests on a tour of the hospital’s publicly accessed facilities.

It is, Bill says, “an inspiration to work there. The hospital is state-of-the-art in everything, the doctors are top notch, they have an incredible research group, everyone is very upbeat, and there is a great sense of camaraderie. I always look forward to going to work there.”

Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento is part of a pediatric hospital network owned and operated by the Shriners of North America. Today, there are 22 of them. The hospitals are remarkable for many reasons. They provide expert, specialized care for children under the age of 18 and all services are provided absolutely free of charge. Eligibility for care is not based on a relationship to a Shriner or financial need. Any child that the hospital staff believes it can help can apply for admission. The hospitals specialize in treating orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate. The hospitals are also remarkable because they don’t rely on city, state, or government funding; they are supported solely through charitable donations.

Bill characterizes the feeling he gets from working at the hospital as “indescribable.” He says that he is awestruck by the hospital’s architecture and its comprehensive medical facilities. He’s also impressed by the dedication of the other volunteers, the employees, therapists, and physicians. “It’s wonderful to be a part of that.”

He’s also touched by the children there and by the people who take his tours. “Some are people who are interested in the hospital’s work,” he says. “But some are adults who were at the hospital as children, and some are people who know a child who was helped here. That’s quite something.”

Bill himself is an active Shriner but that’s not a requirement to volunteer at the hospital. “More than 40 years ago I promised my father, who was a Mason, that I would become one also. I did, and went on to become a Shriner. The whole mission of the Shriners is to support these hospitals—that’s our main focus.” And that, says Bill, is something that gives all the volunteers a sense of purpose.

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