MILLIONS of dollars are spent each year by Columbus Regional Hospital and the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department to provide services to the community. Were it not for a sizable and dedicated group of selfless volunteers, the tab would be a lot more.

Recent stories in The Republic illustrated the significance of the contributions of two groups of area residents — reserve deputies with the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department and members of the Columbus Regional Hospital Volunteer Services Bureau.

If there are unsung and oftentimes unmentioned heroes, the dozens of individuals who give their time to these particular causes certainly qualify.

For either institution to provide the assistance these people freely give, their budgets would be strained to the breaking point.

For them to look upon these services as expendable would lower this community’s quality of life.

Both volunteer groups fly under the radar, so to speak.

Their contributions are either overlooked or simply taken for granted by too many people.

The 15 volunteer sheriff’s deputies, for instance, work approximately 5,000 hours each year in a variety of roles — assisting on road patrols, working as corrections officers in the jail and providing security for community events such as the SALUTE! concert and the 4-H fair.

Before they take on those volunteer duties, officers are required to dedicate at least 40 hours of training in a police academy setting where they learn police protocols and go through field training with experienced officers.

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