Mary Lockhart has been named Inland Hospital’s Volunteer of the Year. Lockhart has been a volunteer with Inland and Lakewood Continuing Care Center since 2005, according to a news release from the Hospital. She will be honored with other community volunteers at the REM Volunteer Awards at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 15, at the Waterville Opera House.

For 10 years, Lockhart has been a friendly, positive presence at Inland and Lakewood. Whether she’s welcoming patients and visitors at the front desk, helping with mailings in the billing office and other clerical projects in various departments, or greeting people at the Human Resources’ office — she is always helpful, kind and happy.

“I love Inland and Lakewood, the staff is so nice — and I enjoy helping people. I feel like I am part of a family at Inland and that keeps me coming back year after year,” Lockhart said in the release. Her doctor, Jim Douglas, DO, from Inland Family Care, recommended that she volunteer a decade ago after she retired from the daycare business. “I am grateful he suggested it because now I have all these wonderful friends at Inland and a way to stay busy at a place I love,” Lockhart said. “I am lucky to have a family that supports all my community activities.”

Her brother calls her “The Governor” because she always knows what’s going on in the world. A lot of that has to do with how involved she is in her community. She is a lifelong China resident and is dedicated to her family, her church and the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 195. She drives the elderly to their medical appointments and provides Thanksgiving baskets to the needy. As a hobby, she makes Christmas wreaths and donates them to Inland each year. Her support of Inland, EMHS, and her community goes on and on.

According to Caroline Crowell, Inland’s Volunteer Services Director, “Mary is a gem. No matter what is asked of her she always says, ‘I will try and I will do my best!’ She is the epitome of a perfect volunteer and we can’t thank her enough for choosing Inland!”

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