According to the Hospice Foundation of America, over 400,000 people volunteer their time each year to work for hospice programs throughout the United States. These remarkable individuals are an essential part of the hospice philosophy of care which recognizes that dying is not just a medical event but a personal one as well. As important members of the interdisciplinary team, hospice volunteers work to "de-institutionalize" the dying experience and provide terminally ill patients and their families with a sense that it's not just clinical people involved in their care but the community as well. In fact, federal law requires that at least 5% of all patient care hours be provided by volunteers (if the hospice receives Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement).

Plain and simple, volunteering means doing something "good" for someone without expecting anything in return. Rainbow volunteers "do good" every day by:

• reading to a patient or holding a hand
• staying with a patient while family members take a needed break or keep an appointment
• shopping or doing errands for a patient
• listening
• helping patients write or tell their life stories
• cooking, light household chores
• providing help with makeup and hair
• working on crafts or other projects
• typing, answering phones, filing, preparing mailings, helping with data entry
• phone follow up
• tuck-in program
• sitting vigil

To learn more about these and other volunteer opportunities with Rainbow Hospice Care, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Rhonda White, at 920-674-6255 or fill out our volunteer application.

In addition, we invite you to attend one of our upcoming informational sessions designed to give area residents a chance to hear what the real volunteer experience is like. Rainbow Hospice Care staff members and other volunteers will be present to make a short presentation and answer any questions you have.

Currently, three information sessions are scheduled for the following dates and times. All will be held at the Rainbow Hospice Care Inpatient Facility (lower level).

• Monday, February 13, 2012 at 2:00 p.m
• Monday, February 13, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.