Since the beginning of the modern hospice movement and even before, hospice visiting volunteers have sustained and embodied the philosophy of hospice. Whether they are giving their time and expertise in a hospital, a hospice or a home, they are always "doing hospice". There is no greater relief than hearing the doorbell ring and knowing it is the visiting volunteer. You know that he or she is there because they want to be, because they know how to be and because they genuinely care. I like to refer to them as "earth angels".

Worldwide there are more than 250,000 organized volunteers donating millions of hours each year to helping those with a terminal illness and their families experience a "good death". My mother, Pat, taught me to "do hospice" long before I realized the importance of such values, when I used to walk beside her, food platter in hand, as she tended to a sick neighbour. Let's never forget the gold of the visiting volunteer, volunteer coordinators, trainers, grief volunteers, facilitators and the volunteer board members who make hospice happen.