Volunteering is a great way to refresh the soul and enrich your life. You give your services to have something to do or even just to accumulate a certain number of hours. However, volunteering transcends from a mere act of service to something so much more. A volunteer will often come out of a volunteering experience having developed relationships and memories for a lifetime. Most importantly, a volunteer discovers his or her own heart of compassion and patience to utilize for his or her life and career. LightBridge Hospice can provide an excellent opportunity for volunteers who want to use their gifts and time to really enhance patient’s life. In short, our volunteers come out of their experiences with unique perspectives and lessons learned, full of amazing stories to share for any who will listen.
Cat was a volunteer at LightBridge Hospice for over a year. During her year, she attended many LightBridge Hospice-sponsored events and visited two patients on a weekly basis. Once her time at LightBridge came to an end, she sent us this letter:
Dear Tauna,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of the LightBridge team. Even through the 2 patients I was assigned to was not a long relationship, I feel I truly learned a lot about health, myself, and who I aspire to be in the future. I am very thankful to the two patients who opened up to me, a complete stranger, telling me of their life stories and letting me just sit with them. I think I have a stronger awareness of what it means to be “present” with the patient. I hope to always remember this and use it in my future endeavors in the healthcare world and also in my daily life. The volunteers and staff at LightBridge truly surprised me by their level of compassion and patience and I admire their kind hearts. I had so much fun attending some of the LightBridge events (making Valentine’s day cards, decorating treasure chests, and giving hand massages at Stand Down*), and I wish the best for everyone at LightBridge
Best Regards, Cat
As mentioned before, LightBridge Hospice can provide a volunteer with a unique experience. Hospice is a place where patients usually have a prognosis with less than six months to live. It is a challenging time for the patients and their family. Volunteers at LightBridge Hospice do so much to ease the suffering and provide comfort for the patients and families. They engage in a wide array of activities such as playing games, listening to life stories, doing a patient’s favorite activity, and sometimes, simply just sitting there providing comfort through presence. It is no surprise that our volunteers here at LightBridge grow so much as people and learn to give not only time, but also compassion. The experience equips them to go forth and become better healthcare practitioners, better sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, and above all, better people.
For more information on how you can volunteer with LightBridge, please visit our website atwww.LightBridgeHospice.com/volunteer.html
