Volunteers of the year recognized | va maryland health care | veterans affairs

During the annual National Volunteer Week observance April 20-26, 2025, the VA Maryland Health Care System selected three volunteers as Volunteer of the Year for Fiscal Year 2024: Trudie

Groves at the Baltimore VA Medical Center, Robert Winter at the Loch Raven VA Medical Center, and Don Burger at the Perry Point VA Medical Center received recognition for their dedication

and steady support for Veteran patients.  “It is a pleasure to pay tribute to the volunteers who have reached hourly benchmarks in service to Veterans. The Volunteer of the Year at our three

inpatient facilities deserve special recognition,” said Jonathan R. Eckman, director of the VA Maryland Health Care System. “We are so fortunate and proud to have such a strong team of

dedicated volunteers here in Maryland.” During the past fiscal year, more than 346 volunteers contributed over 32,300 hours of service to support the needs of our Veteran patients throughout

the VA Maryland Health Care System, reflecting an increase in the hours contributed by volunteers committed to serving Veterans and the VA mission.  Volunteer of the Year at the Baltimore

VA Medical Center, Trudie Groves first began volunteering in the Chaplain Service at the Perry Point VA Medical Center until she moved from Cecil County to Anne Arundel County. This move

precipitated her transfer to volunteer at the Baltimore VA Medical Center where she enjoys working at the Coffee Cart every morning because she loves interacting with the Veterans, hearing

their stories and joking with them.  “Our Veterans deserve the very best,” she said.  At the Loch Raven VA Medical Center, Winter began his volunteer career after retiring and being asked to

teach a guitar class to Veterans in the Community Living Center at the medical center. A college level guitar instructor for more than six decades, he found that he enjoyed teaching

Veterans. “I love teaching, and teaching the Veterans allowed me to experience the joy of teaching without the paperwork required by a college,” he said.  He teaches a class on Fridays. For

Winter, volunteering is at the Loch Raven VA Medical Center is a labor of love. “I love teaching, and I love all my Veterans. It’s hard to learn an instrument when you’re young but even

harder when you’re in your 70s and 80s,” he said, noting that at age 78, even he finds, much to his surprise, that his fingers don’t always do what he wants. U.S. Army Veteran Don Burger

began volunteering in 2019 because he wanted to help fellow Veterans. Until his recent, sudden death in March 2025, he held the important role of a Red Coat Ambassador, greeting and

assisting patients and visitors as they entered the primary care building at the Perry Point VA Medical Center and frequently filled in whenever and wherever a volunteer was needed. 

"My favorite part of volunteering is getting to talk with other Veterans,” Burger said in 2022 when asked about volunteering. “Since I’ve been a part of the volunteer program for a

while, I have become friends with many of them, too." Volunteers’ selfless acts of kindness and support helps to fulfill the VA Maryland Health Care System’s mission of providing safe,

quality and compassionate care to the Veterans we service.