Hospice Volunteer Gets Crafty

As a minister's daughter, and as a child, Wanda Kerstetter would go with her father to visit sick members of their congregation. She learned early on, “It’s just nice to be able to help someone.”

This experience drove her to become a nurse where she continued her mission of service for 30 years.

As she transitioned into retirement, Wanda wanted to serve in a different way and began to volunteer her time and talents with Crossroads Hospice. Her volunteering includes creating craft projects, decorating patients’ rooms, hosting sing-a-longs and planning group activities with our patients, all with the goal to decrease social isolation and increase sensory stimulation.

“Last spring, Wanda organized a group of volunteers to meet together to make Easter Baskets for all of our Cleveland patients,” says Chrystal Gullet, Crossroads Hospice Volunteer Manager. “This glue-and-scissors event brought our volunteer team together for fun and fellowship and allowed our volunteers to talk about their successes and the challenges they face every day when spending time with our very special patients.”

Wanda has organized a monthly get-together with several of her friends to put together holiday-themed gifts for our volunteers to take to their patients. These special handmade gifts bring smiles to our patients’ faces and give our volunteers activities to engage their patients’ in during their visits.

Wanda has turned this love of crafting and scrapbooking into a class that she leads, and whenever she has extra items, she donates them to Crossroads Hospice for the patients to enjoy.

“It’s an excellent way to have a rewarding life,” Wanda shares. “Everyone is so excited when you walk in with crafts. I love just watching everyone smile and be happy, and the families knowing that their loved ones are getting out of their rooms and doing activities.”

Do you have a love of crafts? To learn more about sharing your talents as a Crossroads Hospice volunteer, please call 888-564-3405 or submit a volunteer application on our Facebook page.

If you found this information helpful, please share it with your network and community.
Copyright © 2015 Crossroads Hospice. All rights reserved.