Hospice Volunteer Training Online: 3/28/10

Hospice volunteer Valerie Hoch, left, prepares a salad while Gus Ben-Hamo, right, places food on a dinner tray. Fellow volunteer Renusha Indralingam, background, cleans up the kitchen. N-J | Lynn Kaiser Conrad

Teen volunteer Dudley Joseph, seated, and Dee Young, volunteer services coordinator for Halifax Health Hospice, review a visitor log at the reception area. N-J | Lynn Kaiser Conrad

PORT ORANGE -- Hundreds of high school students have done it before them but this group of teenagers, who all happen to attend Spruce Creek High School and didn't know each other six months ago, want to talk about it and be role models.

Last fall, Halifax Health Hospice of Volusia and Flagler held a volunteer orientation class for 10 young people at the Port Orange Care Center. The program has been in place since 1995, according to Elsie Hudome, director of clinical program development.

Youth volunteers work at many of the facilities and services that Halifax Hospice provides but at the Port Orange Care Center each volunteer typically is designated a day, said Suzie Sopotnick, volunteer service assistant. Sopotnick works directly with the high school students.

"The whole society could benefit if more kids would do this. I shouldn't be considered a good kid," said Spruce Creek freshman Gus Ben-Hamo, 14, who surfs and skateboards. "Most kids our age don't stop to think about how lucky we are. If we helped each other, the world would be a better place."

But the Hospice volunteer program is not for everyone, according to volunteer services coordinator Dee Young.

"For some, it's just not a good fit," she said. "Teenagers have to be responsible, dependable. And they have to be mature."

After an interview that includes the family of a potential volunteer, a determination is made, Young said.

Valerie Hoch, 18, a senior at Spruce Creek High, has been volunteering at the Port Orange Care Center for more than a year. She said she became particularly attached to one patient and reminisced about how she would take the woman for walks around the garden and regularly painted her toenails.

"I am more patient with people, and I listen more," Hoch said of how the experience has affected her. She asid she plans to attend University of North Florida and major in elementary education.

Each of the volunteers displays innate talents that he or she brings to the center. For example, Dudley Joseph, 18, of Daytona Beach is a senior at Spruce Creek who will attend Stetson University in the fall. He likes sitting at the reception desk, welcoming guests and family members.

"The family great room is being redecorated now, but when I first came, I used to sit there and play the piano," said Spruce Creek junior Renusha Indralingam, 16, of Daytona Beach. "Patients and family members would come to the great room and listen.

"One wife came in and just talked to me. It was probably the best experience I've had here. Here I could connect with people, and I realized it was more than just about the patient, it was about the caregiver as well."

When the room reopens, Renusha, who wants to be a pediatrician, said she will play again.

Planning on being a third-generation nurse, Jamie Meyer, 16, is a sophomore who is learning a variety of jobs. She said she enjoys working in the kitchen. She prepares customized smoothies for patients and delivers meals to their rooms.

Valerie Hoch said she decided to volunteer at Hospice after her grandmother died two years ago and the process has been therapeutic for her.

"If I come here after having a bad day, that bad attitude leaves as soon as I come through the doors," she said.

Volunteers neededBy volunteering, high school students accumulate much needed hours for college applications and potential scholarships while also helping others. Halifax Health Hospice of Volusia and Flagler opportunities include:

Offering companionship or respite care to patients and family members.

· Helping with administrative work.

· Assisting with memorial services, acting as a "Bereavement Buddy," or working at the Lawrence E. Whelan Begin Again children's grief center.

· Staffing tables or booths at health fairs and community events.