Hospice volunteers talk about their role in helping the terminally ill

Being a volunteer can be difficult work, with often long hours and no pay. Any volunteer endeavor can be taxing. However, some local volunteers face an additional challenge - the emotional strains of patients and families dealing with eminent demise. Hospice of Alleghany volunteers counsel and comfort the family of terminally-ill patients. In addition, volunteers often do menial chores and provide comfort for those who are ill. Recently, three hospice volunteers discussed their volunteer roles and recalled memories of their chosen duty. Juanita Bryan Bryan has been a volunteer of hospice since 1986. She was a member of the first training team to receive an eight-week training course to become a hospice volunteer.

THREE VOLUNTEERS - Volunteers for Hospice of Alleghany pause for a photo during a recent interview. They are (from left) Billie Dimmette, Lois Edwards and Juanita Bryan.

"I have a done a little bit of everything a volunteer would do," said Bryan. "I volunteer for families with hospice patients to run errands, sit and listen if they want to talk - just show that I care and share whatever I can."

Bryan has served on the advisory board for three years in a row. She has also coordinated a family night dinner for families and volunteers and when she can, she volunteers her time in the office performing secretarial duties and answering the phone.

Bryan has recruited her husband, Delmar, to help with fundraising activities in the past. Bryan says she discovered hospice through reading about it in the local newspaper. There was not a local hospice at the time.

"I read about it before it became a program here - the name caught my attention," Bryan recalled. "I knew it was something I wanted to help with. It reminded me of a way of life I was brought up in, neighbor helping neighbor."

Bryan remembers ten families that she has helped to serve.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News!

Email: allnews@ls.net