Published: March 9, 2018
The Sparrow Women's Board of Managers and the Sparrow Volunteer Services Department have named Mary Siegrist Browning the March Volunteer of the Month. Browning has been a volunteer with the Mary Magdalen League for 7 years working in the gift shop at the St. Lawrence campus of Sparrow. She serves as an assistant store manager and is a gift buyer. She was born and raised in Lansing and is a graduate of O'Rafferty High School and Western Michigan University and is now retired from the State of Michigan after a 40-year career.
Browning and her husband of 20 years, Ron, are big-game hunters and members (sometimes holding an office) of Safari Club International, where they advocate and promote wildlife conservation, ethical hunting, education, and humanitarian efforts such as: keeping food local (donating meat to food banks or left in village population), taking medical relief and school supplies to clinics, schools and orphanages in the communities that host them.
Mary is also a docent at Potter Park Zoo where she works with the large animal exhibits, educating visitors about the animals and also with the program for children with autism which provides sensory-reduced educational activities for guests.
Even with all of the above activities, Mary loves to read and is an artist with a great eye for design, photography and decorating. With all of her talents, Mary shares those with her work in the shop by stocking items suitable for patients, families and staff and arranges them beautifully to draw interest. Many people step in just to view the displays of decorative, seasonal and useful items Mary has arranged on the shelves. She also accomplishes many things in the shop on her own time, cleaning, managing inventory and moving displays and sometimes filling in for others who cannot make a shift.
The Sparrow Women's Board takes great pride in honoring volunteers such as Mary Browning who share their time and talent for the benefit of Sparrow's patients and families. To learn more about volunteering at Sparrow please visit Sparrow.org or call our office at 517.364.3606.