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It’s National Volunteer Appreciation Week 2020. To start we have a wonderful message from Paula Poel, Volunteer Coordinator.
Typically, I would be finalizing plans for our Annual Volunteer Luncheon. This year, the luncheon has been canceled and I’m working remotely from my kitchen table.
One thing remains a constant and that is the fact that we are blessed with wonderful, compassionate volunteers at Harbor Hospice. But this fundamental service of Harbor Hospice has been impacted with social-distancing and stay-at-home orders in Michigan.
Although most of our face-to-face volunteer services have had to be canceled due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, many of our volunteers are helping us in other unique and compassionate ways.
- Sewing face masks for our staff and family members of our patients,
- Sewing protective gowns for our staff,
- Sending cards to patients that are no longer able to receive visits,
- Providing social and spiritual care visits via telephone,
- One volunteer continues to come to the office after hours to help us keep our medical records filing up to date,
- Volunteers continue to do our Poppen grocery shopping,
- Volunteers are calling family members who have lost a loved one to offer grief support,
- Making colorful placemats are still being made by a volunteer to help brighten mealtime for our Poppen patients,
- And this week one of our patients will receive a veteran pinning ceremony in his yard from one of our veteran volunteers.
Once again our volunteers prove how much Harbor Hospice relies on their services in helping us complete our mission of providing expert end-of-life care with compassion, comfort and support.
If I could speak to all of our volunteers directly, I would say two things:
- I REALLY miss interacting with all of you because I truly enjoy being your Volunteer Coordinator
- Stay home, stay safe, and stay healthy…….and don’t forget to wash your hands.
I am looking forward to the day when our volunteer department can get back to some degree of normalcy.
Take care,
Paula Poel
Interested in joining us as an essential hospice volunteer? Click here to find out when our next training will take place.