Greater Hershey Area townlively.com
ALSO SERVING HUMMELSTOWN & MIDDLETOWN
OCTOBER 30, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
Honored for a lifetime of service
Lower Dauphin students recognized for good deeds
BY CATHY MOLITORIS
F
with her husband, John. She earned her medical education from the former Hahnemann Medical School in Philadelphia and was associated with the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center until she retired in 2018. She currently serves as the chair of the Foundation of the Pennsylvania Medical Society. “My family had no money, but through scholarships and loans and jobs, I got through college and medical school,” she said. “In the Pennsylvania Medical Society, we give scholarships and loans to medical students.” Hall is also a volunteer OB-GYN physician for Hope Within, an organization that offers free primary health care ser vices
Two Lower Dauphin School District (LDSD) students were recently recognized as Do the Right Thing winners for September. Tenth-grader Kade Marotta was nominated by teacher Roy Gesford after he observed Kade’s actions at the Special Olympic track and field event that was held in the spring at the high school. While volunteering at the event, Kade witnessed a middle school student having a seizure. Kade sprang into action by timing the seizures and placing a jacket underneath the student’s head for comfort and safety, all while sharing the information with Gesford. Additional staff members at the scene indicated that Kade was “instrumental in ‘doing the right thing’ in an efficient manner.” Eighth-grader Abby Heverley was nominated by middle school counselor Teresa Coller for going out of her way to be kind and helpful to fellow students. Coller states that Abby “recognizes the challenges some students face and goes out of her way to consistently check in with these students and then finds ways to make their day better,” all without being asked. For their efforts, the students were recognized with gift cards, Do the Right Thing T-shirts and certificates, and Subway coupons. The September program sponsor was Hummelstown Mayor Dave Roeting. The Do the Right Thing program is modeled after a national program. Now in its 18th year, the local program
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rom an early age, Virginia Hall knew what she wanted to do with her life. In sixth grade, she decided she would become a doctor. “I grew up in a family of eight children in 11 years,” said the woman who serves as a volunteer physician for Hope Within Ministries Community Health, Counseling & Dental Center in Elizabethtown. “We had nothing. We didn’t get the medical care we needed when we were younger, so I was set on making sure other people had the opportunities I didn’t.”
Dr. Virginia Hall (center) received her award from the Pennsylvania Medical Society in September.
way to healing fully by the time Hall’s group returned home. In the 2000s, Hall traveled to India with the World Surgical Foundation Gift of Life program, fixing congenital heart defects. In India, Hall, along with medical students and nurse practitioners, ran an active medical practice and developed clinics to provide medical care to women and children. Her contributions made strides in better health outcomes for her patients there. In addition, she implemented policies that paved the way for more permanent improvements in the health of both women and children in the region. Hall grew up near Valley Forge and now lives in Hummelstown
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mortar and laying cement blocks. She also remembered cooking over an open fire for meals. “We ate a lot of rice,” she said with a laugh. During her time there, she put her medical skills to use. “One of the cooks pulled me aside. I had noticed she walked with a limp,” Hall said. The woman had an infection on her leg, which, because of the numerous parasites in the water, couldn’t easily be cleaned. “I had brought along a few meager medical supplies, so I tended to her and scrubbed her leg twice a day during the time I was there,” Hall commented. T hrough Hall’s effor ts, the woman recovered and was on her
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“If life gives you opportunities, you should use them to help others.” Throughout her long medical career, Hall has dedicated herself to giving back to others, making a difference around the world. In September, Hall received the International Voluntary Service Award from the Pennsylvania Medical Society for her work in both Sierra Leone and India. “I had no idea I was nominated, so I was very surprised,” she recalled. “I don’t look at anything that I do as anything special. It’s just an extension of what we do as physicians.” Hall first went to Sierra Leone in the 1990s. “We were helping a couple from New Cumberland who were building a well to access uncontaminated water,” she said, noting that she helped to construct a meeting hall, mixing
VOL XXXVII • NO 17