April is Volunteer Month. All month, our wonderful cancer volunteers will share why they give of themselves, in their own words.
I started volunteering at Immanuel Cancer Center in 2006 with my first therapy dog, Hudson. He had just received his AKC and International Championships. My Bernese mountain dog went on to take the Canine Good Citizen class and became certified through Therapy Dogs, Inc. At first he and I visited assisted living residents at two homes and grade school students, who read to him. When a friend asked me to join her and her dog at Immanuel, I didn’t hesitate! Hudson became a father in 2008—Lucy Loo is his daughter. Hudson passed away in 2008 and Lucy Loo became a registered therapy dog. The legacy continues.
We visit patients in the chemotherapy room and the seventh floor inpatient wing. Once a teenage patient sat on the floor of his hospital room, petting my therapy dog for almost an hour and talking. The chaplain called me a week later and told me the effect on the teen was amazing—he was able to go home, thanks to the pet therapy. That’s why I do what I do. If I can bring a smile to one person’s face, it’s all worth it.
- Linda Tederman
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