By Rebecca Hudson
Murray County News staff writer
Caring, compassionate people are the heart of any care center, and at Hospice of Murray County (HMC), they abound in great numbers. The couple dozen paid staff members carry out the mission of the not-for-profit organization handily, but it is the bevy of 150 or so volunteers who help to fill the myriad needs of patients and their families that the hospice services every single day.
“Volunteers provide important services to HMC,” hospice director Nate Schunke says. “Whether it’s providing companionship to a person in the final months and weeks of life, offering support to family members and caregivers, or helping with community outreach and fundraising, the contributions of volunteers are essential to our program.”
Mary Baune, who serves as Volunteer Coordinator for the hospice, is tasked with matching volunteers to patients and their families to ensure that all of their needs are met, an undertaking of great importance. “We care for the entire family, not just the patients,” Baune explains. “Our volunteers come in with help running errands, picking up medicine, cooking meals, or anything that will make it a little easier for them to function,” she says.
Others work in the kitchen cooking meals in the four bedroom facility, or in the office preparing mailings, raking leaves, or providing bars for various fund raising events. There is no shortage of tasks to be done at the Our House facility or in patients’ homes, and with the help of its volunteers, they all get done.
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