Volunteering and making a difference

MARQUETTE — If you are looking to give back to the community you can volunteer at a place that is always happy to have more help.

Lake Superior Hospice had their spring training today and it was a day full of learning. Lake Superior Hospice relies heavily on volunteers to come and help out with the patients.

“Most people don’t know that Medicare requires that we provide 5% of our patient care through volunteers,” said, Lake Superior Hospice CEO, Sue Kitti. “While that’s important to Medicare, what we find is that the volunteers have an incredible amount of time and talent that they can give to our patients.”

This training helps prepare volunteers for the work they will be doing and gives them the information of what they can and can’t do during the services they may provide.

This also helps paint the picture of the type of homes and the families that the volunteers will be working with so they can understand the situation more accurately. But people who volunteer truly get a lot from the experience.

“We definitely get more out of it than we give,” said, Volunteer Coordinator, Susan Lefler. “I have to say everyone has a compassionate heart and when we go in as a team it’s hard because you get attached. But on the other hand you are there and it’s an honor to be there to help them during this time.”

Some of the activities that the groups go through which include learning about loss, living with Alzheimer’s as well has pet therapy. These activities help prepare each and every volunteer wanting to help give back to the community.

“They have gone through Hospice with family members and now they want to give back and do the same for other families,” added Susan, “So that’s a big connection.”

There are two training’s every year. One through the Spring and the other during the fall. If you are unable to make either, you can set up a more condensed training with Lake Superior Hospice.

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