Volunteers Provide Robes to Patients at Jansen Hospital

In the past year Jansen Hospice's Volunteer Coordinator, Laura Hanlon, initiated a lap robe program whereby homemade and purchased blankets sourced from Jansen volunteers are donated to hospice patients in community nursing homes. The blankets are coined "lap robes" because they are perfectly sized to keep someone warm when they are sitting down or resting in a wheelchair.

Laura started the lap robe program after Tuckahoe resident, Valerie Schneer, asked if she could donate handmade blankets to the organization. Valerie feels it's important to give back, and finds crocheting therapeutic: "I lost a close friend of mine a couple years ago. He was the love of my life. I always made stuff for him and took care of him. I miss doing that and wanted to continue the tradition. It helps me cope with my loss." The lap robe program has attracted support from several Jansen volunteers who knit and crochet blankets for the cause. Bobbe Kastner volunteered for the lap robe program as soon as she heard about it. "I've been knitting forever. I have tons of yarn lying around the house and have all sorts of colors to make the lap robes interesting and unique. It doesn't even feel like work; it's simply something I like to do."

Valerie has personal experience with a family member who passed while on hospice care and understands its importance. She said good hospice care allows family members to make meaningful gestures, like creating conversation or holding hands - the things that give hospice patients a reason to live. Valerie believes the lap robes have the same effect. "Giving lap robes to hospice patients lets them know someone is thinking about them. They're not cut off from the world; people know they exist." In fact, Valerie received a letter from a hospice patient's daughter that included a picture of her mother with her new lap robe. The daughter wanted Valerie to know what a positive impact she had on her mother's well being.

Cynthia Rouff is another lap robe volunteer who donates blankets she finds in consignment shops, and also volunteers for Jansen in other capacities, including visiting hospice patients and their families. The support she offers not only helps hospice patients, but their family members as well. "I was looking after a man on hospice care, and after he passed, I sat with his wife and daughter all afternoon. They were so sad. His wife started telling me all about her husband - how they met, and stories about their life together. Talking to me helped the wife feel better. By the time I left, I knew I had done a good deed."

The lap robe volunteers give their heart and soul to the program and represent ways Jansen supports hospice patients outside of face-to-face visitations. The beautiful lap robes the volunteers provide and hope each one offers hospice patients with warmth, color, and a reminder that they aren't alone.

If you are interested in volunteering for the lap robe program, please contact Laura Hanlon at 914-787-6158.