ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Making the most out of retirement by volunteering. Don Davis has spent nearly 10 years volunteering at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in the surgical unit, helping patients and parents get through an extremely stressful time.
In 2015, Don showed up at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital looking for something to do.
"I had been retired for 2 years, live on my boat down in the marina and I needed something to do and keep interactive with people, so I came up here and volunteered," he said.
It didn't take long for him to figure out where he fit in.
"And I thought, ehh, helping the parents out while the kids are in surgery was my thing."
Don has given more than 2,200 hours of his time doing just that. He talks to families, shows them where to go, and simply helps them pass the time.
"Anything to make them relax you know. It's not an enjoyable experience that they're in so we're there, but we want to make them just relax."
Volunteer manager Angela Kaczor says long-time volunteers like Don are truly special.
"The families love him, they know him if we have any repeat visitors here," she said. "They know him. The staff knows him."
For Don, it's easy to keep coming back because he knows firsthand how important it is to make families feel comfortable.
"I'm a great-grandfather 4 times over so I've got grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so I get along well with kids."
When asked how long he'll keep volunteering... "Until I can't. So yeah."