By Sherry Sung
Although National Volunteer Month was in April, 144 volunteers continue to dedicate their time and effort to help patients at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside. But unlike some student volunteers earning academic credit, a 90-year-old woman has devoted many years of her life to helping the children.
“They just need the cuddling,” said Rose Naccarato, a volunteer for the last 10 years at St. Mary’s, a long-term care facility. “They need to be held.”
“I need to be held, too,” the 50-year Bayside resident added with a laugh, “but no one would hold me. I live alone and I have nobody to talk to.”
Though she now works in the hospital’s gift shop — which sells “Mommy and Me” picture frames, “I Love My Grandma” magnets, “My Mommy, My Friend” flower pots, mugs, candies, and more — Naccarato spent most of her first six years at the hospital in the nursery.
“If they were awake, they would smile,” she said, referring to the sick babies. “They need special care.”
“It’s a wonderful experience for the children,” said Priscilla Martin, coordinator of the hospital’s volunteer program. “They become very attached.”
Twice a week when Naccarato volunteers at St. Mary’s, she takes four buses each morning from her co-op off 73rd Avenue near the Long Island Expressway. She then still has an eight-block walk after the fourth bus drops her off. She repeats the process in the evening.
“I don’t mind,” said Naccarato. “I don’t like being idle.”
Even though the nonagenarian does not exercise, she added, “My doctor told me, ‘You’re a healthy old lady.’”
Before she gave a decade to St. Mary’s patients, Naccarato baby-sat the children of professionals for 20 years until she turned 80. During the latter half of that period, she also worked at a Bay Terrace country club, where she is still employed on summer weekends.
Before her baby-sitting career, which included children ranging in age from 2 months to 6 years, Naccarato worked for 35 years as a seamstress in a garment factory.
After the death of her parents, she reminisced, “I went to work at [the age of] 15. I’ve worked all my life.”
Nowadays, however, “I don’t do very much,” said Naccarato modestly. But she managed to begin her spring cleaning last Monday by washing her apartment windows. She also reads and goes to the store “like, five times a day.”
St. Mary’s can accommodate 97 patients and treats cancer, AIDS, asthma, premature births, birth defects., and other conditions. Patients come from all five boroughs, Long Island, and upstate.
“I like working here because I like the hospital [and] what it does for the children,” said Naccarato, wearing a pin that read, “Volunteers give from the heart.” “They’re pleased with me; I’m not bragging.”
She hopes to remain dedicated to St. Mary’s for “as long as I can,” she said. “I enjoy people.”
