Giving Back

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When you ask Bob Friar how he became involved with Angela Hospice, he just laughs.

“I’m the accidental volunteer,” Bob says. “I had no connection. I knew Angela Hospice as a name, but I didn’t even really understand the concept.”

It was a friend that first put the idea in Bob’s head, when she saw him at a community event. She pointed at him and said, “I’m here with Angela Hospice, and you should volunteer. They need men volunteers.”

A few synchronicities later, Angela Hospice had Bob’s attention.

“I guess I’m getting some kind of message,” he said, and enrolled in Angela Hospice’s volunteer training classes.

During his orientation interview he was asked what he wanted to do as a hospice volunteer. He said, “I have no idea. I just know I’m supposed to be here.”

So began the caring career of this long-time hospice volunteer. His wife Joanne was soon to join him, and for nine years they did the grocery shopping for the Angela Hospice Care Center. They have also hosted the Friday Ice Cream Socials, helped with memorial services, provided babysitting, patient companionship, bereavement and spiritual care, and put together thousands of admission packets each year – not to mention the various jobs that fall under the elusive category of “miscellaneous.” Their schedule has them coming in several days a week to work on projects.

“It keeps us out of trouble,” Joanne jokes. But she says, “We believe in the mission. Here, whatever you do, it’s appreciated and it’s valuable…it’s in the big picture. “

“We’ve been very blessed in life, so it’s just a way of giving back,” Bob adds. “God isn’t done with us yet.”

This year Bob earned his 6,500 Service Hours pin, and Joanne earned her 6,000 Service Hours pin.

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