COMPASSION IN ACTION:
Volunteer Opportunities
Becoming a Volunteer
There are many ways you can volunteer at Cedar Valley Hospice, all of which help patients and their family members through a difficult time in their lives. Through providing patient and family support, grief support, fundraising, working with youth, helping at the Hospice Home, assisting with events, or volunteering in other ways, volunteers at Cedar Valley Hospice are truly helping Make Each Moment Matter.
Patient & Family Support
Volunteers are assigned to patients and their families in the hospice or palliative care programs to listen to and support their needs in an empathetic and understanding manner. By simply being there to hold a hand, listen to a story or offer a calming presence, volunteer visits allow the family to step away from the heaviness and recharge. Patient and family volunteers also:
- Provide companionship to patients in the hospice or LINK programs
- Offer respite care to take the care giving burden off the caregiver
- Run errands for caregivers and other family members
- Make shopping trips
Hospice Home Volunteers
Hospice Home volunteers are crucial in providing the best possible care for our patients and families. They assist staff by greeting guests and helping with daily operations, such as making coffee, folding laundry, answering phone calls and making people feel welcome. Hospice Home volunteers may also provide one-on-one companionship for patients when the need arises.
Grief Support Volunteers
Grief cannot be fixed; it can only be witnessed and experienced. Grief support volunteers assemble grief mailing and other monthly supportive materials and/or help with grief department events, such as the Celebration of Life and Youth Grief Camp.
Eucalyptus Tree (youth grief program) volunteers have the opportunity to make public appearances dressed as our mascots Katie and Quincy Koala.
Friends Committee
Volunteers
Members of our Friends Committee play an important role in Cedar Valley Hospice’s fundraising efforts. They assist our advancement team in running successful fundraising events by:
- Helping plan and make decorations for events
- Attending monthly committee meetings
- Helping set up and clean up at events
- Asking businesses for silent auction items
- Selling T-shirts for Release & Remember
- Doing additional office/administrative tasks as needed, such as packaging Tree of Love ornaments
Become a
Veteran Volunteer
Each year, Cedar Valley Hospice serves patients who are veterans and their families. Veteran volunteers are matched with veteran patients to provide support and camaraderie. We also have volunteer quilters who create patriotic quilts which are presented to every veteran patient on our program. Volunteers may also assist with managing the flag at the Waterloo Support Center.
Additional Volunteer Opportunities
There are also various other opportunities to volunteer with Cedar Valley Hospice, such as gardening, baking cookies for the Hospice Home, helping with office and mailing duties or serving on various committees at Cedar Valley Hospice
Volunteer Responsibilities
Volunteers at Cedar Valley Hospice have certain requirements they must adhere to:
- Attend a 16 hour training prior to volunteering
- Have good listening skills
- Make a year-long commitment
- Maintain confidentiality
- Be present at in-services and training sessions
- Accept others spiritual beliefs and cultural backgrounds
- Be active at least one hour per week
- Be able to get to and from volunteer appointments consistently
- Be both physically and emotionally healthy
- Cannot have experienced the death in their family or loss due to divorce or separation in the previous year
- Be able to be sensitive and empathetic
Interested in Volunteering?
If you would like more information on volunteering for Cedar Valley Hospice, complete the form below or call Karen, volunteer services team lead, at 319.272.2002.
Volunteer Information
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Become a volunteer!
Our volunteers are the heart of our organization. From visiting patients to helping with events, they perform a number of different roles that are vital to helping us carry out our mission.