Volunteer
A group of volunteers founded Rainbow Hospice Care in 1990, and volunteer involvement continues to be an extremely important part of the work we do.
In fact, Medicare requires that at least five percent of all hours of paid care provided by Rainbow Hospice Care staff be matched in the form of volunteer hours. This regulation reflects the vital role that volunteers play in the hospice philosophy of care and ensures that a hospice program has roots deep in the community. And because the number of patients and families we serve continues to grow, we’re always looking for more volunteers for both the in-home and inpatient programs.
Currently, Rainbow Hospice Care has nearly 150 volunteers—not including volunteers with Your Friends in Action, our sister organization that serves area residents with challenges due to aging, disability, or chronic illness, but not terminal illness. Volunteers for both programs come from all walks of life and range in age from people in their teens to more than 80 years of age, each with their own skills and specialties.
Whether you can help out often or only once in a while, every effort is appreciated. No matter the volunteer interest or level of involvement, all volunteers receive a thorough orientation and training before they are given any assignment. No one is ever expected to take on something they don’t want to do.
Take a 360 degree
volunteer center tour
A group of volunteers founded Rainbow Hospice Care in 1990, and volunteer involvement continues to be an extremely important part of the work we do.
Some of the ways our volunteers help in our mission to provide comfort, care, and meaning:
- Playing cards, working on crafts, etc.
- Knitting comfort shawls or sewing quilts
- Assisting Rainbow office staff
- Phone follow up
- Tuck-in program calls
- Sitting vigil
- Helping with landscaping or in the garden
Additional volunteer opportunities available at the Inpatient Center include staffing the reception desk, helping in the kitchen, giving tours, making flower arrangements, tending the gardens, and assisting with administrative activities like data entry, answering or making phone calls, filing, preparing mailings, etc. And there’s always a need for extra help with making presentations and other education and outreach activities, fundraising campaigns, and special events.
Vet-to-Vet Volunteer Program
We honor veterans! Rainbow's popular Vet-to-Vet Volunteer Program pairs hospice patients who are veterans with volunteers who also served in the United States Armed Forces. Because of their shared bond and common experiences, our veteran volunteers often connect with patients and families in ways others can only imagine.
Rainbow Hospice Care is a proud hospice partner of We Honor Veterans, a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs. We are currently a level 3 We Honor Veterans partner, working towards increasing access and improving quality of care for veterans in our community.
Funding of our Veterans program helps provide military branch specific blankets for our pinnings, educational opportunities for staff, volunteers, and the community. Rainbow Hospice Care provides veteran pinnings to patients that wish to have them. Staff and volunteers gather along with family members to thank our patients for their service. This allows patients an opportunity to discuss their military service in a forum that they may have never had before. Both patients and families have expressed how meaningful these ceremonies have been for them.