Faces of Health - Vol. 36

FACES of HEALTH

MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR NEIGHBORS IN NEED

RIVERSTONE HEALTH HOSPICE:

Volunteer Honors Veterans

We Honor Veterans Career

Veteran RiverStone Health Hospice volunteer honors veterans

Marine Pete Timm chose a second career in volunteering at RiverStone Health Hospice where he continues to serve U.S. veterans and their families. A hospice volunteer since 2004, Pete coordinates our We Honor Veterans program.

Pete became familiar with RiverStone Health Hospice when each of his parents was in our hospice care. “Hospice did everything they needed,” Pete recalls. “I was so impressed with the hospice care they received. I was amazed.”

Pete wanted to give back. He volunteered to visit patients in their homes. When RiverStone Health Hospice launched We Honor Veterans, Pete immediately agreed to help. He has been the primary We Honor Veterans volunteer ever since.

Sarah Rachac, RiverStone Health volunteer coordinator, contacts Pete when a veteran patient wishes to participate in We Honor Veterans. Pete then calls the patient or family member to arrange the pinning ceremony and to learn about the veteran’s military service.

He has met patients who served in the same places he did – Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, Okinawa and Hong Kong and numerous U.S. locations.

work for the state of Montana to help veterans get jobs. During the brief pinning ceremony, Pete shares the veteran’s story, presents the red, white and blue We Honor Veterans pin and reads the certificate, which says: “We pay special tribute to you for your military service to America and for advancing the universal hope of freedom and liberty for all.”

The ceremony brings families together while the patient is living. Pete has pinned veterans who served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War.

Hospice volunteering isn’t sad, Pete says. “I’m providing something that the family can feel good about and the veteran can feel good about. I feel good about it. It’s sad when someone passes, but I am helping them die with dignity.”

RiverStone Health Hospice relies on wonderful volunteers, like Pete Timm. To learn more about volunteering, please call Sarah Rachac at 406.247.3313 or find our volunteer application online at RiverStoneHealth.org/hospice.

RiverStone Health Hospice values each of our 117 volunteers and strives to give them the training and support they need to do their best for our patients and families.

Rachac RiverStone Health Volunteer Coordinator

Pete saw two tours of duty in Vietnam, the first as an aerial gunner. He worked as a Marine recruiter and led the Billings Marine Corps Reserve training center before retiring as a first sergeant. Then he went to

Altogether, the cost of running a top-notch volunteer program is more than $146,000.

Our generous Foundation friends can help us sustain our volunteer program with a gift to the Foundation designated for Hospice.

To make a gift in support of our Hospice services, visit RiverStoneHealth.org/GIVE

Pete Timm, left, participates in the Hospice Tree of Lights ceremony in 2022 honoring WWII veteran Donald Mason with Donald's nephew, Ralph Saunders, right.

I’m providing something that the family can feel good about and the veteran can feel good about. I feel good about it. It’s sad when someone passes, but I am helping them die with dignity.

- Pete Timm

Sarah

35th annual Hospice Golf Tournament canceled by rain

Save the Date: June 7, 2024

Rain once again foiled our plan for hosting the 35th Annual RiverStone Health Hospice Golf Tournament at Laurel Golf Club.

We appreciate everyone who signed up to golf or volunteer for the original date and our Rain Check date. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to Laurel Golf Club on June 7, 2024 .

Thanks to RiverStone Health Foundation friends like you, no patient is turned away from our hospice care due to inability to pay.

THANK YOU to our sponsors

Presenting Sponsors:

CORPORATE AIR

Board of Directors

Bill Royer – Chair, UBS Financial Services

Carol Beam – Vice-Chair, Rocky Mountain Health Network

Drew Hedrick – Secretary/Treasurer, Century 21 Hometown Brokers

Dan Carter – Par Montana

John Dorr, MD – Retired

Jon Forte – RiverStone Health

Kim Gillan – Retired

Ryan Nordlund – City Vineyard

Barb Skelton – Horses Spirits Healing Foundation Staff

Barbara Schneeman – Executive Director

Megan Irion – Senior Director of Development

Leyna Kingman – Development Coordinator

Beth Allen – Development Associate

Thank you to the game hosts, hole sponsors, raffle prize donors and the Hospice Tournament Committee!

Linda Larsen

Hospice Tree of Lights

The Annual Hospice Tree of Lights memorial celebration provides an opportunity to remember loved ones and celebrate their lives.

For more than 40 years, RiverStone Health Hospice has provided compassionate care for people at the end of their live and supported their loved ones. Hospice care is available to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. Join us for a virtual celebration Sunday, Nov. 12 – 4 p.m. streaming live on Facebook and YouTube.

Sunday, Nov. 12 4 pm

Your donation in memory of a loved one helps ensure that RiverStone Health Hospice can continue helping families and friends with their grief. In remembering our loved ones and those who cared for them, we heal.

Submit names to be included in the ceremony (by Oct. 25) and link to the live stream:

RiverStoneHealth.org/LIGHTS