Last year, the approximately 120 State of the Heart Hospice volunteers gave nearly 5,500 hours of their time to the local not for profit agency, saving State of the Heart over $57,000. This month, State of the Heart will honor their volunteers in observance of National Volunteer Week April 15 – 21. “Our volunteers are appreciated so much throughout the year,” stated Pauline Faller, volunteer coordinator for State of the Heart. “This is a time which is special for all of us at State of the Heart as we show a token of appreciation for the volunteer hours given to us.”
State of the Heart has scheduled two recognition events for volunteers: one is Tuesday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the Salt Box, 361 N. Eastern Ave. in St Henry. The other recognition event is a luncheon Wednesday, April 25 at noon at the Turtle Creek Golf Course (formerly Greenville County Club), 6545 U.S. 36 East. Volunteers are asked to RSVP by April 12 at 800-584-9853.
There are an estimated 458,000 volunteers in the nation’s 5,000 hospices and they provide more than 21 million hours of service to hospices, saving the agencies hundreds of thousands of dollars. More than 1.58 million patients in the U.S. are cared for by hospice programs every year. The typical hospice volunteer devoted 47 hours of time in 2010.
State of the Heart provides care to patients and families in eastern Indiana and western Ohio who are confronting a life limiting illness. With offices in Greenville, Coldwater and Portland, the agency has been providing care for more than thirty years.
“Our volunteers help in so many ways,” Faller said. “Volunteers provide support by sitting with patients while the caregiver takes a break. They also visit patients to provide socialization, in the home and extended care facilities. Also, the volunteers help staff with clerical tasks, marketing and fund raising projects. State of the Heart volunteers can choose what they feel most comfortable doing and can determine the hours they commit.”
Two volunteers, Mary Brennan of Greenville, and Cheryl Walter of Coldwater, are volunteers. Each says they enjoy the flexibility volunteering for State of the Heart offers.
Walter said she works 70 hours a week, and, while she wanted to volunteer, wondered how she would do it with her work schedule. She visits and sits with a patient for about an hour a week. “The flexibility allows me to pick the time I can do it,” she said. Both of her parents died under hospice care. “I always thought I wanted to do something for hospice and I always wanted to help someone.”
She views her volunteering “not as a job or a task. It is something I like to do. It is a good feeling when you walk in to visit a patient and you see their eyes light up with joy. The patients I have sat with have given me as much in return as I gave them.” She retires in two years and sees herself continuing her volunteering.
Brennan, who retired in 2004, began volunteering shortly after that. There are several reasons she chose to volunteer for State of the Heart Hospice. One reason was the flexibility it allowed her schedule. There was also a time when there was an illness in her family and she had to leave her volunteering for awhile. “I was able to come back and pick up where I left off.”
Another reason, she explained is that “State of the Heart exists for all the right reasons, focusing on the well being of the patient. I would not be a volunteer if that focus had not been there.”
She added, “The staff is exceptional and everyone values those they care for. I was well educated about hospice care and when I have questions about a patient or what I should do, there is always someone to call to help me.”
Brennan will soon leave Greenville to move to another county in Ohio. She has researched other hospices and will volunteer at another hospice when she is re-located.
She sits with a patient for about two hours a week. “This is not much time out of my life in the grand scheme of things.” And, she views her relationship with the patient as a “friendship.” She added, “I do what I do because I want to not because I have to. I enjoy giving back to the community for so much it has given me.”
Faller said that Brennan and Walter exemplify what so many volunteers like about volunteering for State of the Heart. “Both enjoy sitting and visiting with patients which is something we are constantly seeking in our volunteers. And, both provide an invaluable service without impacting their daily routines.”
Faller said that volunteers are always needed. There is an orientation and background check before volunteers take on their assigned duties. For more information about volunteering, call Pauline Faller at 1-800-417-7535. To learn more about State of the Heart, visit the agency web site at www.stateofthehearcaret.org
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