By Heather Posey, Staff Writer
Dedicated Long Beach Memorial Medical Center volunteer Mathilda Karel Spak celebrated her 105th birthday with patients, staff and fellow volunteers last Thursday, where she was met by government officials and public figures praising her for her 46 years of service.
“Thank you for putting up with me,” Spak said to the crowd who filled the volunteer service room, where she worked as Chairman of the Day every Thursday.
“Karel” has given Long Beach Memorial and Miller Children’s Hospital more than 20,750 volunteer hours, the equivalent of 10 years of full-time work. Her volunteer background consists of creating a children’s clothing closet to ensure that children and newborns leave the hospital with brand new clothing, fielding 85 calls a day as the volunteer chairman and handing out stuffed animals to patients young and old on holidays.
“Supporting charities is my love,” said Spak in a press release. “Volunteering is my job. There’s no such thing as being unable to volunteer, unless you’re too sick to get out of bed.”
Spak has spent the past 85 years committed to volunteerism and never plans to retire from her vocation. For her birthday she was given a proclamation from the city of Long Beach as well as by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom she was up against when she ran for Governor at age 100.
The student nurses gathered to sing “Happy Birthday” to her, and hospital staff members presented her with a permanent Chairman of the Day badge. Spak also received a large box of candy, which seemed fitting considering her “secret” to a long life, “do what you want to do, eat what you want to eat and volunteer,” something which she claimed she wouldn’t have lived as long without.
