Jun. 21--HIGH POINT -- Volunteer work is one thing, but it takes a special calling to do what Ed Spivey is called upon to do sometimes.
The 73-year-old High Point man, who says he is "semi-retired" from Beeson Hardware, volunteers at Hospice Home at High Point -- the 14-bed facility operated by Hospice of the Piedmont -- and serves on the agency's board of directors.
Ask Spivey what he does at Hospice Home, and he'll tell you he does a little bit of everything -- "whatever they need me to do," he says.
But the task he performs that will tell you the most about Spivey is this one: When a patient is near the point of death, and for whatever reason no family member can be there -- the patient is dying all alone -- Spivey gets a phone call.
"Hospice does not want anyone to die alone," Spivey explains, "so at times when the family is not around, they'll call me, and I'll come sit with them as they pass on."
It's a call that most people would dread, but one that Spivey says he's honored to receive.
"Most of my friends think I'm crazy," he acknowledges, "but I don't mind doing it. I can see the suffering they're in, and if it gives them some peace for me just to sit with them and hold their hand, I'll do it if that's what it takes. You can tell it takes their fear away. I've gone home teared up sometimes, but it has to be done."
That's the kind of attitude that makes Spivey a favorite of the Hospice of the Piedmont staff.
"His support of us and the generosity of his time is just invaluable," says Kim Kaufmann, the agency's volunteer coordinator. "He's gone above and beyond, and he's available at a moment's notice. We wish we could clone him."
Spivey, who also has volunteered for the Community Clinic of High Point and High Point Regional Health System, got involved with Hospice of the Piedmont about a year ago.
"I just needed something to do -- you can only play so much golf," he says with a chuckle. "I feel very strongly that you need to give back to your community, so I've always been active in the community. Someone suggested I give Hospice a call, so I went there and just fell in love with it."
Officially, Spivey works a volunteer shift every Sunday evening at the Hospice Home, but as Kaufmann suggests, he's there much more often than that.
"I'm always on call -- I only live six or seven minutes away from Hospice," Spivey says. "Sometimes they'll bring in a patient who is disoriented -- they've come from the nursing home or the hospital -- and they'll call me to come sit with this person, to help calm them down, to talk to them and get them to relax."
During his regular shift at the Hospice Home, Spivey does everything from answering the phone to getting water for the patients -- "just whatever the nurses and aides need for me to do," he says.
That includes feeding the patients -- a task that's not as simple as it may sound, because it takes special training to feed patients in palliative care. Spivey had to go through eight hours of training to be able to help feed patients.
"He's the first of our volunteers to go through that training," Kaufmann says.
For his part, Spivey simply says his volunteer work with Hospice is one of the most fulfilling things he's ever done.
"I get a real peace," he explains. "I feel like I'm helping somebody, and I feel like that's very important. And I understand what Hospice is all about and their whole philosophy -- allowing people to die with dignity and peace -- and I really appreciate what they do."
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