An invitation to join these smiling happy Memorial Hospital Hospice Volunteers is extended to community folks who may be interested in helping others. Sitting, from left, Jerri Renzo and Jean Spencer. Standing, Rhoda Kauffman, Jackie Whitehead, Carl Whitehead, Esther Lewis and Rev. Richard Davis. They invite you to join them!

Memorial Hospital is celebrating National Volunteer Week, April 21 -27, 2013 by offering a free hospice volunteer training program, which will begin March 11th. The training will be held in the Wellness Room (second floor) of Memorial Hospital’s Personal Care Home, from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. for the months of March and April.

"Hospice volunteers are absolutely vital in fulfilling hospice’s mission to care for dying people and their families," says Trudy Ventello, LSW, volunteer coordinator for Memorial Hospital’s hospice program. Volunteers allow hospice to provide services it otherwise could not offer. Duties vary, but volunteers are usually counted on for a wide-array of help including: administrative assistance in the office, taking care of terminally ill patients and their caregivers, keep the patient company, provide a link to the hospice staff, be a support person, do chores around the house, run errands and offer bereavement support to families.

The training will offer an opportunity to reach out to our communities, educate the public about end-of-life care, as well as recognize and recruit hospice volunteers.

"These wonderful volunteers give their time and talents and are an essential part of the meaningful experience that hospice care offers", says Ventello. "We all need to be reminded of the value of family, community and the power of committed individuals to do good for others. Volunteering for hospice offers a chance to serve goals larger than self."

Anyone interested in registering for the volunteer training to become a hospice volunteer or have hospice questions in general, contact Trudy Ventello, Memorial Hospital Hospice Volunteer Coordinator at 268-2233.