To a casual observer, it would seem that Lana Stanarevic has been at The Floating Hospital for much longer than the five years she has been working full-time, and even the years prior, when she worked part-time or pitched in for the annual galas in 2018 and 2019. If you want to know something about the administrative side of the organization or really anything at all about the hospital, she has the answer or knows how to find it, fast. That probably stems from her primary job as the hospital president’s assistant, a position that requires her to be part of the nerve center of the organization. Since then, she has worked on the donor database and became a development associate for The Floating Hospital Foundation, where her current title is grants coordinator, foundation relations and she works with the grants manager to help with funding proposals, grant reports, research, budgets and statistics . She has been the hospital’s board liaison since she started and is currently the foundation board liaison as well. A few months ago, she began managing the volunteer program.

New shoes on their feet

As a development associate, she set about procuring in-kind donations for things like shoes, clothing and baby care supplies, and to great success. Her relationship with the group Soles 4 Souls, has resulted in its donation of 2,000 pairs of shoes and 2,000 pairs of socks for this year alone. She began the association in 2022 when she “came across their website and sent a blind email introducing us and requesting support.” Donations started that year with 150 pairs of shoes and 300 pairs of socks. They increased their gift to 500 pairs of shoes and 1,050 pairs of socks last year. Then, after a visit by S4S to the clinic at the end of 2023, the donations quadrupled this year. “They were drawn to our mission, and enthusiastically responded, immediately sending us shoes for camp,” Stanarevic recalled. “And their support is really growing. It’s provided us this opportunity to give brand new shoes to unhoused kids, and we did not have that ability before.” While the S4S shoe donations have expanded to our homeless patients outside of camp, Stanarevic said “I’m very drawn to the camp and the kids who attend.” She’s arranged smaller grants for things like camp-branded water bottles and sunglasses and even books addressing themes related to the camp’s life-skills training.

Banking and management, baby gear and toys

Her degree is in tourism management from Turistica in Slovenia, and our staff first encountered her when she was managing a coffee shop in the same building as the hospital’s previous clinic in Long Island City. They were impressed with her management skills and it wasn’t long before she was offered a job. That management background may have also impressed Bank of America, one of our corporate donors, which after a tour of our clinic recommended a connection with Good+ Foundation to help with our patients’ needs for baby formula, wipes, swaddles and other essential items. This resulted in Good+ donations of those items as well as children’s bedding and bath products, adult clothing and baby floor gyms in two separate gifts in May. “Everything flew off the shelves, because there’s such a big need for baby items right now.” At Stanarevic’s request, Bank of America also came to the rescue for last year’s Candy Cane Lane event, where families in temporary housing are offered new winter gear, clothing and sleepwear, and children can select toys for the holidays. When one of our major sponsors for the event had to drop out at the last minute, Bank of America and its staff shopped our wish list and became the primary toy sponsor of the event, saving the day for kids whose lives are unpredictable, stressful and often disappointing.

Helping the helpers

Her latest responsibility is managing the hospital’s volunteer program. Volunteers help us with special events throughout the year such as Candy Cane Lane, Women’s Wellness days, and Camp Rise Up. Volunteers were also needed to help sort a huge S4S shoes shipment that arrived in mid-August. An eblast to our mailing list asking for volunteers caught the attention of Monica Morales, a PIX-11 correspondent and supporter of the hospital. The next day, she taped a segment about the hospital and its programs, highlighting the need for volunteers for shoe sorting and our camp. The mailing and the segment resulted in several volunteers for the shoe delivery and for readying our campers with gear for their week in the country. To promote and maintain relationships with volunteers, she has started a schedule with regular opportunities on alternating Fridays and monthly cooking demonstrations featuring cuisines from different cultures. And if that wasn’t enough, she works with the hospital’s leadership to coordinate their calendars, help schedule interviews and organize clinic events. “I enjoy the fact that I get to work with basically the entire hospital, and not only leadership. I collaborate with the clinic managers, other clinic staff and sometimes even interact with patients.” She said regular visits to the clinic help her maintain a broad view of the organization. “When I first started, I was given a job description that was maybe a half-page long,” she recalled with a chuckle. “But that is now a fraction of what I do.”

Learn more