Volunteers

Volunteers are an important part of the Hospice Team at Lifespan.

Our hospice volunteers make a big difference  in the lives of so many people in so many different ways.  Our volunteers come from all walks of life and posses many different skills and interests, but share a common interest in helping others.

 Lifespan Hospice Volunteers assist  in a variety of roles, including helping patients and their families with household tasks, providing grief support to bereaved family members,  and assisting in the hospice office.

Our Hospice volunteers receive training and support from our Lifespan professional staff.  To learn more about our Lifespan Hospice Volunteer program, call the Lifespan office toll free at 1-800-254-5939 or 269-660-3600 and ask for a Hospice Volunteer Coordinator.

Want to learn more about volunteer events, training or other Lifespan events - click here to view calendar

Because everyone is unique and possesses their own unique ‘skill’ set and talents, Lifespan offers many different options for volunteering at Lifespan Good Samaritan Hospice. Lifespan volunteers experience the satisfaction of sharing their skills and talents with patients and their families. Our volunteer coordinator will work with you to help you find a volunteer opportunity that you are comfortable with.

Here are a few ways you can volunteer:

Patient Care

Patient ‘care’ encompasses a wide variety of activities. These include:

• Care and compassion for a hospice patient
• Phone contact with a patient’s caregiver
• Doing errands/household chores for a caregiver
• Transportation for a patient or a family member
• A volunteer, training or orientation meeting.
• Hours worked at home-quilting, making patient gifts, baking, etc. that re patient related
• Support functions for patients, e.g., Volunteering in Residence Kitchen, dog therapy, clowning, etc.
• Helping a patient record his/her life story

Office/Administration

Our office administrative duties can vary from everyday office help, to the extra help that can be required for special events.
These can include;

• Receptionist duties – answering phones, greeting guests, etc.
• Regular or one-time task-filing, volunteer contact, compiling information or reports, assembling books or information packets, etc.
• Helping at Lifespan sponsored events – Flu clinic, outreach activities, blood drive, Relay for Life, etc.
• Conducting a Hospice training or orientation session

Community Service

Many times during the year, Lifespan sponsors or participates in different events in the community that support our patient care efforts, and we could not make these events the success they are without the help of our wonderful volunteers! Here are just a few ways volunteers make a big difference.

• Preparation for conducting sales, bazaars, or other fund-raising activities
• Time spent at home creating crafts or baking for a fund-raising events
• Grounds maintenance at the Residence
• Attendance at advisory board or other meetings – on behalf of Hospice

Bereavement

Offering compassion and support to those who lost a loved one is an important component of Hospice care and our volunteers play an important role in Lifespan Bereavement services. Our volunteers help with;

• Contacts, including sending cards, letters or making phone calls to survivors of Hospice patients
• Help given to support group meetings, lunches or dinners
• Visiting bereaved at funeral home or attending the funeral of a Hospice patients

If you are considering becoming a Hospice volunteer, here are few important points to consider:

• Lifespan volunteer opportunities offer a wide variety of locations, days, and times to volunteer your services
• Our volunteer assignments can be one-time or ongoing based on your preference
• If you work full time during the day, you can still volunteer, but you may not have as many volunteer opportunities as those who are able to volunteer their time during working hours
• As a volunteer, you can accept or reject assignments.   Our volunteer coordinator can help you in determining what types of volunteer activities best suits your skills and comfort level.
• Your volunteer assignment may involve assisting the patient, the caregiver, or both.
• The most likely activities include providing companionship to patients and can include conversing with patients, reading to them, watching a favorite TV program with them, etc.
• Some volunteers assist in feeding patients, particularly those that reside in a nursing home.
• There are some rare occasions where Lifespan volunteers assist patients or their family members in transportation to appointments or for regularly scheduled visits.
• On  rare occasions there may be a need for light housework