Hospice of Hilo is honoring its volunteers during National Volunteer Week from April 10-16. The organization launched the recognition of their volunteers by hosting an appreciation luncheon at the Hilo Yacht Club.
Hospice of Hilo is honoring its volunteers during National Volunteer Week from April 10-16. The organization launched the recognition of their volunteers by hosting an appreciation luncheon at the Hilo Yacht Club.
National Volunteer Week, established in 1974, has grown exponentially each year.
Hospice of Hilo volunteers are called upon to perform an array of supportive services including patient care and feeding, respite care, bereavement care, transportation, companionship, shopping, errands, active listening and reading, as well as office administrative support, public relations, and community education — including helping individuals and families understand advanced health care directives (AHCD), physician orders for life-sustaining treatment (POLST) forms and being a resource to help families have the conversation about what a loved one might want when he or she is facing a serious or life-limiting illness.
With the opening of Hospice of Hilo’s Pohai Malama a Harry &Jeanette Weinberg Care Center in 2012, the services offered by volunteers have become even more varied with individuals volunteering to help with gardening needs as well as one volunteer coming in specifically to play music for patients and their loved ones.
Hospice of Hilo currently has 70 volunteers.
“We have volunteers who are retired nurses, social workers, doctors, park rangers, hair dressers, teachers, they bring a myriad of skills to the table,” said Hospice of Hilo medical social worker Anne Anderson. “The volunteers have a very special role at Hospice of Hilo. They can connect with our patients in creative ways and their efforts can be what brings quality and meaning to the lives of many of our patients and their families.”
Hospice of Hilo CEO Brenda S. Ho said she’s grateful for all of the work the organization’s volunteers do.
“They really are the heart of all we do at Hospice of Hilo,” Ho said.
To find out how you can become a Hospice of Hilo a volunteer, call 969-1733.