A local volunteer is joining higher ranks as the president of a state organization.

Jeanne Banks was installed last month as the president of the Virginia Association of Healthcare Auxiliaries and Volunteers.

“I was delighted to be entrusted with this responsibility,” Banks said. “I know my mother, who was a hospital volunteer in Portsmouth, would be pleased. There’s always a need somewhere to help.”

Locally, Banks has been president, vice president, secretary and treasurer of the volunteer organization at Obici and has served as a sponsor volunteer for three years. She’s also been a legislative chair.

Banks has been a hospital volunteer since she and her husband lived in Texas when they were young. Every time they moved, she sought out the area hospital to offer what she could and has been an active volunteer at the Obici hospital for 12 years.

“It’s just such an amazing and rewarding experience,” Banks said of volunteering. “It’s a good feeling. Maybe good feelings aren’t important to anybody else, but it’s important to me to be happy, and it makes me happy to be able to give to others.”

The Virginia Association of Healthcare Auxiliaries and Volunteers serves health care auxiliaries and volunteer organizations to help members achieve full potential by offering recruitment tools, education, support, communication and vitalization to its members.

Its mission is to “provide and develop effective leadership, support and education to member organizations of Virginia health care facilities,” according to its statement.

Statewide, there are 62 member hospitals and more than 15,000 volunteers in the organization.

Last year, volunteers worked more than 1.8 million hours, and nearly $7.5 million dollars was donated from the organization to hospitals and health care systems throughout the state.

“Needless to say, we make a sizeable contribution,” Banks said. “It’s our goal to be of service to the hospital without adding any cost to them.”

As part of her role as president, Banks has picked the organization’s theme this year.

“Volunteers are angels,” Banks said. “That, to me, is what volunteering is about. They’re there when you need them, and they don’t impose themselves. They’re just there to offer you help when you need it. That’s what we’re about.”