Name: Joyce Doyle How long have you been a volunteer? About a year. What areas do you work in/what sort of tasks do you do as a volunteer? Patient care in the Care Center. What made you decide to become a volunteer ? My mom was here [at the Angela Hospice Care Center]. She passed away in January 2014 and I just thought it was such a great sanctuary for people to be. Joyce volunteers in the Angela Hospice Care Center. What is your favorite part about volunteering? Learning from the patients. What is one of your favorite stories or memories from volunteering? There is a patient here, he says very little, but there are some times when he reacts, and the most he’s ever said to me is “Howdy!” But if I take his picture from when he was in the Air Force and I show it to him, he laughs and laughs. He’s adorable.

Name: Beth Judd How long have you been a volunteer? Three years. What areas do you work in/what sort of tasks do you do as a volunteer? Care Center and spiritual care. What made you decide to become a volunteer? My mom passed away, and I was with her when she passed, and it was a very profound, beautiful experience for me. It was sad, but it was so moving. I knew that I wanted to be able to bring some comfort to people because to me it wasn’t just sad, it was very spiritual. Why Angela Hospice? Because Angela's is in Livonia and I live in Livonia. That’s how I got here. Beth often volunteers in spiritual care. What is your favorite part about volunteering? How rewarding it is. To be able to give someone comfort is the most rewarding experience you can have, and it’s such a beautiful environment here. At a time when people feel that they couldn’t possibly find comfort, if you’re able to do that, that’s the best gift of all. What is one...

The Riley Foundation was honored at last year’s Light Up a Life Gala. We are so deeply grateful for the continued support of The Riley Foundation as the elite “HOST” sponsor for this week’s Light Up A Life benefit dinner. For those who are unfamiliar with the longstanding relationship between Mr. George Riley and Angela Hospice please read below. George Riley’s history with the Felician Sisters did not begin with Angela Hospice. It extends back to his childhood. His father, Frank Riley, worked as chief engineer for the Sisters for 36 years. Mr. Riley has many fond memories of growing up on the Felician grounds, where his family lived in a house still known today as “The Riley House.” Mr. Riley went on to serve four years in Navy Aviation, before opening a television repair shop in the 1950s. One of George’s first projects was to wire Detroit public school classrooms for DPTV Channel 56’s educational programming. As time went on, Mr. Riley’s small shop grew into a...

While guests view the auction and raffle baskets at this Friday’s Light Up a Life Gala, two volunteers will be taking a much deserved break. Carolyn Arlen and Kate Uberti have spent countless hours in the basement of Angela Hospice putting those baskets together over the last few weeks: making sure every item is showcased, double-checking that auction items won’t fall out when the basket is picked up, and using the right colors so nothing clashes. Kate Uberti (left) and Carolyn Arlen (right) have spent the last few weeks creating dozens of baskets. “They not only have to look pretty but they have to be ergonomically correct,” Carolyn said. That means doing much more than just putting some items in a basket, throwing a bow on it, and calling it done. The average basket takes them about 20 minutes to create, but there are others that take much longer. Kate said one basket took her nearly an hour because items kept falling over. Carolyn has experienced items that are ...

Name: Kathy Gross How long have you been a volunteer? Almost a year. What areas do you work in/what sort of tasks do you do as a volunteer? Patient care in the Care Center and mailings. What made you decide to become a volunteer? I’ve driven by here for ages. I always saw it and thought it would be nice to do volunteer work but I was working at the time. Then my husband and I retired in 2011, and I lost him in July 2013. That was rough, and I said, “I need to do something with myself.” I always get more out of doing for somebody; you get so much more back. So I thought, I’ll go see what that’s all about. I honestly didn’t know in the beginning if I could do this or not. I thought, I’ll just try it ; and I’m so glad I did. It’s just such a rewarding feeling that you’ve put a smile on somebody’s face. I just feel glad that I had the opportunity to get to know them a little bit or make it a little nicer for them when I was there. Kathy (left) with Angela...

Pam Shorter didn’t want to volunteer for hospice. "At first I thought, 'I don't want to deal with people at the end of life. No, that's depressing!'" she said. And yet, Pam is now six years into her career as an Angela Hospice volunteer. It was a friend at church that suggested she volunteer at Angela Hospice. Pam didn't know how she wanted to help, but she took the training class anyway. That's where she heard about Alberta Karll, affectionately known around these parts as "the Pie Lady." Alberta bakes pies each week in the Care Center family kitchen for patients and visitors. When Pam heard this she was inspired: "I said, 'Well, what about muffins?'" Pam can be found in the Care Center kitchen every week. Now Pam comes in weekly too, along with Alberta, to bake all sorts of goodies for patients and their guests. She's even been recognized out in public as "the Cookie Lady." The app...

Name: Susan Brown How long have you been a volunteer? Almost five years. What areas do you work in/what sort of tasks do you do as a volunteer? Patient care in the Care Center, events, and children’s holiday workshops. What made you decide to become a volunteer? I wanted to give back to the community and I also have a friend who works here, [Home Care Clinical Supervisor] Laurie Comps. We’ve known each other for a very long time ─ since middle school. Just hearing about it I thought, this is something that I could do . If I can make patients feel comfortable, and work with families, because families are upset…If they know the patient feels comfortable then they’re going to feel a lot calmer about the situation. What is your favorite part about volunteering? It’s very rewarding. If I feel like I’ve kind of lifted somebody’s day or made some of the families feel a little bit better, then to me, that is the best part of it. What is one of your favorite...