Fran Treston, a HUP volunteer, was honored with the Daily Point of Light award on Sept. 7 for her selfless service at the Family Caregiver Center. The award, created by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, recognizes Americans from all walks of life who are making a difference in their communities through volunteerism.
“Fran has certainly enhanced my experience as a volunteer in the Family Caregiver Center,” fellow volunteer Nancy Saunders said. “Her gentle, caring presence is really a treasure for all of us who are part of it.”
Treston joined the Center in 2014 and has volunteered every Tuesday and Thursday for the past seven years. During her shifts, Treston meets with family caregivers — some accompanying loved ones at the hospital for weeks or months at a time — in the surgical waiting room and Founders 5 and Rhoads 2 intensive care units.
For caregivers, she has become a familiar and friendly presence, providing support and guidance through their loved ones’ treatments.
“One woman whose partner was in the hospital for over two months visited us at the Center. She’d come every day, sit down, have a cup of coffee, and talk with us just about anything,” Treston recalled in her nominee interview on the Points of Light website. “She said the Center provided something she didn’t even know she needed. She called it her oasis.”
She has oriented numerous volunteers and represented the Center at the annual Family Caregiver consortium meeting, sponsored by the Ken Hamilton Family Caregiver Center at Northwell Health.
“You get as much as you give. I’ve met so many wonderful, nice people who are in difficult circumstances, yet they are pleasant. They’re doing the best they can,” Treston said. “If you can help anyone in any way, that’s the important thing, whether it’s helping someone at the center, or just across the street.”