For almost two years, Sharon Krohn, an Agnesian HealthCare Hospice Hope volunteer, has been serving area individuals and their families as they face end-of-life care. Krohn, a Brandon resident, was invited to become a volunteer by her daughter-in-law. One of her first efforts was to help launch Hospice Hope’s Forget Me Not and Veteran programs. “I learned to quilt in a program through my church and brought on the idea of making lap quilts for veteran patients,” Krohn recalls. Through the Forget Me Not program, volunteers help create a tangible memory piece, such as a thumbprint necklace, memory jar or video history for Hospice Hope patients and their families. Volunteers – like Sharon – also help create veteran lap quilts which are presented by veteran volunteers to veteran patients during a pinning ceremony where the patient is thanked and recognized for their service. To date, Sharon has made about 50 quilts. Hospice Hope offices in Fond du Lac and Green Lake office are currently looking for more volunteers to assist patients and their families. Volunteers support patients and families in direct patient care, respite care, bereavement care, pet therapy, administrative work, medication delivery and more. Agnesian HealthCare Hospice Hope provides an extensive training program designed to equip volunteers for the varied types of service. The next training session is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, May 2 at Ripon Medical Center, 845 Parkside Street in Ripon. Hospice offers a supportive, palliative (comfort versus cure) and compassionate care program to patients who have a life-threatening illness, and do not want, or cannot proceed with, aggressive curative treatment. Hospice Hope care offers a team of caring people trained to meet the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of patients who have a limited life expectancy, as well as the needs of their families and caregivers. Volunteers are placed in their own geographic areas and Agnesian HealthCare Hospice Hope is in need of volunteers in your area today. Application deadline is Tuesday, April 26. Application and interview must be completed prior to the class. For more information, call Betty Walleser, Hospice Hope Green Lake volunteer coordinator, at (920) 294-6220 (walleserb@agnesian.com). Other training sessions will be scheduled during the upcoming months in Fond du Lac. For future training dates, contact Jennifer Stephens, Hospice Hope Fond du Lac volunteer coordinator, at (920) 924-4662 (stephensj@agnesian.com).
