Lower Cape Fear Hospice, a nonprofit hospice serving the area for 35 years, is in need of volunteers to help families in Bladen County.
Hospice volunteers help patients where they live—in their homes, nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Volunteers are needed to assist patients and families with lawn care, pet care, providing meals, helping to fulfill a bucket list item, planning a life celebration, baking a cake for a special occasion or creating a memory board or photo album as a family keepsake.
Volunteers can also provide respite for caregivers and much-needed emotional support for families and patients with advanced illnesses. They serve as caring friends to people in need. They offer companionship, can visit or read to patients, listen, hold a hand, run errands, allow caregivers to rest, and help patients tell their life stories.
Volunteers with specialized training or certifications can also help by providing manicures or pedicures, hair styling and other special services. Volunteers are also needed to help with administrative support, assist with special events and fundraising, and to share Lower Cape Fear Hospice’s message in the community. There is also a need for veterans who are willing to be a part of LCFH’s veteran-to-veteran volunteer program.
Individuals of all ages, walks of life and talents, as well as groups, are encouraged to volunteer.
Prospective volunteers must complete orientation. A full, 12-hour training will be held from 5:30 until 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23, and Thursday, Feb. 25, and from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27.
An abbreviated training will be held fro 9 a.m.until noon Friday, Feb. 19. Those who attend abbreviated training instead of the full, 12-hour training will have some limitations on types of volunteer opportunities, but plenty of options are available for both.
All training will be conducted at LCFH Bladen County office, 116 W. Broad Street in Elizabethtown.
Sessions will cover the basics of hospice care, communication skills, spirituality at the end of life, veteran-to-veteran volunteering, dealing with grief, advance care planning and more.
For more information or to register, contact Lisa Clark, community outreach coordinator for Bladen and Columbus counties, at 910-620-2264 or email lisa.clark@lcfh.org.
Lower Cape Fear Hospice is a nonprofit agency that provides healthcare and comfort to people with advanced illnesses; support and counseling to families; and education to the community in Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties in North Carolina; and Horry County in South Carolina. For more information, visit www.lcfh.org or facebook.com/lcfhospice.
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