If you were born at South Florida Baptist Hospital in Plant City in the last few decades, you’ve more than likely been impacted by Fran Johnson.
The 94-year-old volunteer is a legend at the hospital. She has single-handedly made over 5,000 caps for newborns and in January she reached a milestone few ever achieve: She was awarded a pin for volunteering more than 27,000 hours.
And she has no intentions of slowing down.
“I plan to continue as long as the good Lord helps me stand on my feet,” Johnson said.
The embodiment of dependability, she has dedicated the last 36 years to helping the strangers who walk through South Florida Baptist’s doors. Sitting at home simply wasn’t in the cards for Johnson’s golden years.
“I retired from my job at General Motors and I was too young, I was only 57, and I didn’t want to be idle,” Johnson said.
When she began, the hospital needed escorts on Wednesday and Thursday. Instead of simply taking one shift, she worked both until another volunteer was found to help carry the load.
Since then, Johnson has added working the information desk to her duties, as well as chairing multiple committees and taking on the role of president, vice president and secretary.
In her free time she works on crocheting newborn caps, a feat which takes two hours on average for each individual hat. According to Johnson, the hospital keeps approximately 50 to 55 caps on hand each month and she crochets as many as needed to keep the stock full. She has also made baby sets and afghans to be sold in the gift shop when she had extra time.
“You can always depend on her being here,” Carolyn Allen, a colleague who has worked with Johnson for more than 15 years at the hospital, said. “She’s not sick, she doesn’t have to ask off and she doesn’t take long vacations. She’s always here two or three days a week, it seems like, and she’s very dependable.”
Johnson comes every Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. to begin her four-hour shift. She often finds herself picking up someone else’s shift as well. Helping others is simply part of who she is, as is evidenced by her previous community involvements — working for Meals on Wheels, the Tourist Information Center of Plant City and being a member of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority.
“Part of Beta Sigma Phi’s pledge says, ‘the only right we have is the right to be useful,’ and I think this all kind of goes hand in hand,” Johnson said.
The hospital currently has 132 active volunteers as well as 112 active teen volunteers for the summer. However, Johnson said more are needed.
“Well I’ve always found that people want to volunteer but they have to push themselves to do it sometimes,” Johnson said. “Once they do it, they’re so happy that they did. And they meet all these nice people.”
In Johnson’s case, the sentiment appears to be true. To celebrate her 94th birthday, Johnson and her friends from work all went to ABC Pizza and even cut a cake. They’ve been celebrating as a group for years.
“It’s like a family,” Cassandra Banning, a coworker, said. “I’m a newbie as far as these women go because I’ve only been here four years, but everybody is welcoming and everybody wants to help. You’re part of the family and they’re concerned about you.”
For Johnson, the word can also be taken literally. At one point, five of her husband’s aunts were all volunteering at the hospital at the same time. His cousin still volunteers with Johnson.
She said her time at the hospital has created a camaraderie with her coworkers, that they know each other’s home lives as well as their aches and pains.
Her coworkers agree and many praised her affable personality, endearing smile and admirable work ethic as unexpendable assets to the hospital.
“Y’all are embarrassing me,” Johnson said. “I’m just one of many.”