The Surprise Hospice Volunteers Never Expect

“I could never work in hospice. It would be too hard.” 

This is a common thought. People envision the sadness that comes from building relationships with people at the end of their life, only to lose them. But if you talk to someone who has done this work for years, you’ll often hear a different story. They talk about moments they never expected.

Maybe it’s making a bouquet from whatever flowers show up that day. Or seeing a child arrive at camp burdened by grief and leave feeling a bit lighter. Or watching a veteran open up after years of silence. These are the moments that keep volunteers coming back, and they’re hard to describe until you’ve experienced them yourself.

Diane and Anne, two longtime ClearPath volunteers, have gathered many moments like these over the years. Their stories and ways of helping are different. Still, both of them answer the question many people wonder about but never ask: Can I really do this?

Twenty-Three Years, and the Surprise Never Wore Off

Diane has been volunteering for more than two decades, though she is quick to say she never planned it that way. Her very first shift was with a neighbor she already knew and cared about, a friend she was assigned to sit with. She expected the day to feel heavy. What she found instead surprised her, and it has continued to surprise her. Diane recalls, “There was so much nurturing in the experience, so much joy for the person and for the family around them.” She came home feeling filled up rather than emptied out.

She understood the work early on because she had been on the other side. When her father was dying in California, her family relied on hospice, and she saw how much it helped. She wanted to give that same support to other families. What she didn’t expect was how much she would get back in return. 

In the past 23 years, Diane’s volunteering has taken many forms. She spent years with Transitions clients, some of whom later entered hospice care. When she wanted a change, she found new ways to help. She arranged flowers, volunteered at Camp Sunrise, ClearPath’s children’s camp, and helped with Festival of Trees, their annual fundraiser. When she was ready to sit with patients again, she did.

What do you do as a Hospice Volunteer?

Diane says honestly that it depends on the person. Some people prefer to work quietly behind the scenes, while others want to sit with someone at the end of life. ClearPath has many needs, so you can choose what suits you and change your role as your life changes. She points out something that surprised her, “If staff ask a volunteer to do something that doesn’t feel right to them, they never make anyone feel guilty for saying no.” That freedom and support are a big reason she’s still volunteering.

The Flower Project

“Flowers are my joy,” said Diane. As a gardener, making bouquets for patients felt natural to her. The arrangements use donated flowers, and ClearPath thanks donors like Fred Meyer, Ladybug, High Desert Florals, and Two Hearts for their support. Diane never knows what flowers will arrive each day, and that’s part of the fun. She uses whatever she has to create something special.

What matters most to Diane is who the bouquet is for. Most bouquets go to a patient she has never met, someone who might be having a very hard week. She doesn’t see them receive it, and she doesn’t need to. Diane makes every bouquet as if she were the recipient, trusting the flowers will bring some happiness.

Camp Sunrise

Camp Sunrise is the one area of volunteering Diane says she never wants to give up, and she suspects that comes from her years as a teacher. Diane describes watching a child at camp, “like a butterfly coming out of the cocoon.”  They sometimes arrive apprehensive and unsure. By the time they leave, they are more aware of what they feel and are more at peace with feeling it. She cannot point to a single child because, over the years, there have been so many she has watched change. That transformation is the reason she keeps volunteering at Camp.

But Would It Just Be Too Sad?

Diane hears this worry a lot, and she answers it gently. “We all have a gift, and it can take many forms. For some, it’s being at a patient’s bedside. For others, it’s working behind the scenes, arranging flowers, or helping at camp. There’s a place for anyone who wants to help.”

Diane says that if you look past the sadness, you’ll find the joy in this work. It gives families precious time with their loved ones. It lets tired caregivers rest, knowing someone who cares is with their family member. Every situation is different, so the real goal is to find what works for each volunteer and family. After more than twenty years, Diane’s reason for staying is simple: she wants to support families. The staff encourages her to keep coming back, and most of all, she finds joy in the people she helps.

Why It Takes a Veteran

Anne’s path to this work began in 1969. When faced with the draft, she chose to join the Navy and served on a submarine off the coast of Vietnam, helping protect the coast and rescue downed pilots. She served for almost five years before moving to shore duty and leaving the Navy in 1974.

When Anne returned home, the country wasn’t interested in her service. She left the submarine, changed into civilian clothes, got into her car, and went off to college during the anti-war years. For a long time, she didn’t talk about her service. Over the years, she built a career in high tech and kept that part of her life private. About twenty-two years ago, she married Frank. Not long after moving to Central Oregon, the local VFW welcomed Anne and Frank with open arms. She was surprised by this, and something changed within her. She finally found a community that honored veterans, which allowed her to feel comfortable honoring her own service.

Anne’s journey is exactly why ClearPath needed her. A few years ago, Jody, our Volunteer Coordinator, asked Anne and Frank to help with a special need. Veterans make up a large part of the Central Oregon community and many of ClearPath’s clients. They needed volunteers who could relate to them. Anne understood right away. She knows how to salute and understands what veterans have been through. When she sits with a veteran at ClearPath, she isn’t a stranger. She’s one of them.

What Happens Over Coffee

In ClearPath’s Serving Those Who Served program, veteran volunteers meet with other veterans for coffee and conversation. It might sound simple, but it’s much more than that.

Anne has watched what happens when the person across the table has also served. She remembers one veteran who was closed off and a little surly at first. She and Frank are good storytellers, and before long, he began to share his own history, and then he opened up completely. That, Anne says, is why this program is so important. “A veteran has automatic acceptance as being trusted. You carry a shared experience, whatever branch or era you served in, and that shared experience is what lets someone open up.” A person without that background usually cannot get there because most veterans remain hesitant and guarded around someone who has not been where they have been.

Anne has found ways to make that bond real. She helped build a nineteen-foot model submarine from an old aircraft fuel tank, adding a 3D-printed flag and periscope. They named it the SS Redside, after a trout native to Oregon, a nod to the name of the submarine class she served on many years ago. Anne brings the submarine to local parades and plans to take it to veteran events. 

Being the One Who Honors Another Veteran

Anne also joins in pinning ceremonies, which ClearPath staff provide for veteran hospice patients as a moment of recognition for their service. Anne also participates in ClearPath’s annual Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day event, which was a spaghetti feed last year. She says that these moments mean a lot to her, and that being able to honor another veteran’s service is healing for her. She’s seen many veterans deeply moved at the Welcome Home event and knows exactly why. Anne has felt the difference between being unseen and being recognized.

The work asks something real of her, and it gives something real back. For instance, she grew close to one patient living with dementia, visiting every week for a year, and she watched that patient’s face light up each time she arrived. When that patient came to the very end of her life, Anne was the one who came in and helped her feel calm. She still carries the certainty that she did something that mattered. 

A Word to the Veterans Reading This

Anne is upfront about what can hold veterans back. The volunteer process is thorough, with references, paperwork, and training videos, and it takes commitment to finish. Her advice is to stick with it because it’s worth it. If you’ve served, you already have the most important qualification. You know how to sit with another veteran in a way few others can. ClearPath wants to grow its group of veteran volunteers, so if you’re considering it, this is your invitation to join.

Finding Your Place at ClearPath

Most people volunteer to help others in need. They give their time and skills to make a difference. But most people never expect to get something in return. That’s the surprise that comes from volunteering at ClearPath and the reason many of our volunteers have been with us for decades – because it matters to the patient or client and to the volunteer. 

Diane and Anne took very different roads to the same doorstep. Whether your gift is arranging flowers, patience for grieving children, office work, a shared history of service, or simply the willingness to sit quietly with someone who needs company, there is a place here that fits. 

If their stories inspired you, we’d love to connect. To learn more about volunteering with ClearPath Healthcare, visit clearpathhealthcare.org or call 541.548.7483. Come discover the moment you didn’t expect.