Giving With Their Hearts~n~Hands

I recently had the exciting opportunity to spend a Saturday morning with the Hearts~n~Hands Sertoma Club of Mechanicsburg, PA. The club asked me to stop by and give them an overview of what my responsibilities are as a Health Advocate. I am truly honored to have met such a wonderful group of volunteers who have made it their mission to help patients in active treatment for cancer.

The Sertoma International mission is to help people experiencing hearing loss as well as meet the needs of communities through their volunteer services. The Hearts~n~Hands group provide scholarships to master level students in a hearing related program. They also offer dedicated volunteers to help ease the day-to-day burdens of cancer treatments. When a patient is undergoing active treatment, they often require frequent office visits for chemotherapy and radiation treatments. These visits can be difficult to attend without reliable transportation from friends or family members. Radiation treatments are often five days a week for four-to-six weeks, placing a significant burden on family and friends to help with daily trips back and forth.

Hearts~n~Hands partnered with the American Cancer Society, the Department of Aging and local cancer centers to offer volunteers who provide free patient transportation to their frequent appointments. Many of the volunteers are cancer survivors or have had a family member suffer from cancer, making the connection between the patients and volunteers even stronger. These volunteers give tirelessly to the patients facing this challenging illness.

The volunteers also provide support by making homemade meals and giving out sunshine bags that include comfort items such as socks, snack bags, hand sanitizer, word search books, and pens. These sunshine bags are given to patients undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

I am always looking for ways to better help my clients as they face difficult challenges with cancer. We are very fortunate to have this group of dedicated volunteers to help with easing the burden of caring for someone undergoing cancer care. To learn more about this group or to sign up to volunteer you can check out their Facebook page at Hearts~n~Hands Sertoma Club.