New Volunteer Training Sept. 30

Joy, a therapy pet, spends time with a young visitor at the Hospice Care Plus Compassionate Care Center. Hospice Care Plus is seeking new volunteers for many roles, including serving as a handler for Joy weekly. New Volunteer Training is on Sept. 30.

Hospice Care Plus is hosting a training for new volunteers on Sat., Sept. 30, at the Compassionate Care Center in Richmond.

The training is for individuals who would like to help the non-profit organization provide care and support to individuals, caregivers and families. It’s open to adults and teens age 14 and up.

Pre-registration is required. To register, contact Stefanie Manes, Volunteer Coordinator, at 859-626-9292 or hospice@hospicecp.org.

Stefanie says volunteers can help in countless ways.

“We always need people who are interested in supporting patients and families directly,” says Stefanie. “But we also have a lot of openings for other types of indirect support, like computer work, answering phones, and working in our gardens at the inpatient center.”

Joy, Hospice Care Plus’s new therapy dog, is another reason new volunteers are needed.

“Joy is still very young, and it’s helpful to have handlers to reinforce her training, take her around to visit patients and families at the Center and, sometimes, in their homes, and give her a play session or two,” says Stefanie.  “We’d love to add a few new handlers to the team. It just takes two-to-four hours a week, and she’s such a pleasure to work with.”

New volunteers can choose from general volunteering to specific programs, such as the Teen Volunteer Program, the Breakfast Club, Veteran-to-Veteran Volunteers and the Vigil Program.

Regardless of what new volunteers choose to do, Stefanie says they can expect to find meaning and reward in their work.

“What I hear most often is that volunteers feel they get so much more than they give.”

The New Volunteer Training equips participants with the knowledge and insight to work in areas like end-of-life care, caregiver support, and grief and loss. After the training, Hospice Care Plus staff meet

To register for the training, contact Stefanie Manes at 859-626-9292 or hospice@hospicecp.org. Those interested in attending can also follow the New Volunteer Training event page on Facebook.