On the Wings
At Project 4031, we are always asking: How can we improve end-of-life stories? We pay utility bills, feed the hungry, shelter those threatened by homelessness, commit to bury the dead. We lift tired spirits by fulfilling dreams. However, after that initial service, that financial expenditure in a moment of crisis, how do we continue to stay connected?
This is the question that led us to expand our volunteerism this year in two important ways. The first way is through our Prayer Partners. People of faith, who believe in the power of prayer to comfort, opted in to become Prayer Partners. Weekly, they receive a list of the people we have served who have asked to be on our prayer list, and the Prayer Partners pray for the patient and for the family. It is as simple as stopping to remember the need of another, to present that need and place it under the protection of God.
The second way we have sought to deepen our services is through our new volunteer program, Wings. After a day-long training that encourages volunteers to carefully examine their own experiences with death and grief, these special people become Wings volunteers. Once a week the Wings volunteers gather at the Project 4031 house to prepare love offerings, day-brightening gifts for hospice patients. They arrange flowers, creating colorful bouquets and flower crowns; they bake cookies, preparing them in beautiful packages; they write notes of encouragement; they sew pillowcases. Then these love offerings are delivered to the patients in the local in-house hospice and to the local patients we have previously served through Funding for Families or Fulfilling Dreams.
Why do we do this? The final months of life can be a time of isolation for people and their familial caregivers. Days and nights blur as the whole focus turns to the needs and necessities of the end of life. It is easy to feel forgotten, and we believe that the end of life is better if you know that you are not forgotten. Delivery of these love offerings and the guaranteed promise of prayer remind the dying and those who love them that they are not alone, they are remembered.
Would you like to be a part of this important opportunity to selflessly give love to the dying? You are invited to volunteer as a Prayer Partner or to contact us about becoming a Wings Volunteer by emailing Nicole Herlin, Program/Volunteer Director, at nicole@project4031.org. You don’t have time to volunteer? Consider making a monthly donation through the Sparrow Project. Your generosity can make a positive impact on end-of life stories!
“Because you are my help, I will sing in the shadow of your wings. —Psalms 63:7”
Contact Us:
708 May Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76104
info@project4031.org
Phone: (817) 653-8976
Fax: (817) 841-8250
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