If you’ve walked through the front doors of Regional Hospice, you might have seen Dan and Lindie Bacon behind the lobby desk. For the past six years, the two have been volunteering their time to make patients and families feel warmly welcomed as soon as they arrive.
What drew you to volunteer at Regional Hospice?
“Regional hospice found us.”
Dan and Lindie first discovered Regional Hospice through the Healing Hearts Center for Grief and Loss program, which inspired them to give back to the community that supported them after the loss of their granddaughter, Charlotte Bacon, in the Sandy Hook tragedy. With hundreds of hours devoted to Regional Hospice, the Bacons uphold their mantra: “Time is precious. Value the time that you have.”
Besides being lobby greeters, what else do you do at Regional Hospice?
The Bacon family created the Charlotte Helen Bacon Foundation to honor the life of their granddaughter. Through the foundation, Dan and Lindie have supported Regional Hospice’s Good Grief Camp, contributed to the addition of the Children’s Playhouse, and assisted in the gifting of Christmas presents to patients. They look back on such examples of love as their most memorable experiences; connecting the community together through a shared collaboration of generosity.
What is a lesson you’ve learned over your years of volunteering?
“Listen. Be sensitive and know when to talk, if at all,” says Dan.
Lindie adds, “It’s about the patients’ and families’ stories and experiences… even if you’re having a bad day, they’re grappling with greater challenges.”
How has volunteering at Regional Hospice impacted you?
Dan and Lindie both agree that volunteering has broadened their perspectives, granting them the opportunity to meet new people that have left them “eternally grateful and enriched.”
What does it mean to be a volunteer at Regional Hospice?
For the Bacons, being a volunteer at Regional Hospice means belonging to a family. Together, the staff, volunteers and patients have an extremely close community, a “support system,” that Dan and Lindie feel extremely grateful and proud to dedicate their time to and with.
Reporting and writing by Elizabeth Chan
