Did you know over 50 percent of folks in our area nursing homes have no friends or family? Our Direct Care Volunteers visit area nursing homes and private residences offering companionship and supportive presence. Our Tuck In Call volunteers check in with families weekly by phone, and our Indirect Care Volunteers help out in so many ways, as sewing veteran blankets, memorial pillows, scrapbooking, and office help. Plus we have a Veteran to Veteran volunteer program.

Free training starts Tuesday, Sept. 25, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Central Lincoln County Adult Education in Damariscotta. Training will run Tuesday’s consecutively for seven weeks. Guest speakers will include a register nurse, case manager, medical social worker, chaplain, bereavement coordinator and veteran volunteers. Hospice volunteering is not about a patient’s demise, it is about their living.

The Hospice Volunteer experience is each person’s to define. As long as you show up with an open heart and a caring soul, you will always leave with your heart and soul filled to capacity, especially when you have a classy lady saying to you each visit, ‘where have you been?’, as she holds her hands out for me, says Katharyn Zwicker, Beacon Hospice volunteer

Pre-registration is required. Please contact Kelly Herlihy, volunteer coordinator, 621-1212 or Kelly.Herlihy@Amedisys.com for details or contact Central Lincoln County Adult Ed 563-2811 or Bmerrill@aos93.org