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When Grace's maternal grandmother passed away peacefully while in hospice care two years ago, Grace wanted to give something back to the people who helped care for her grandmother. While only eleven- years old, Grace has an intuitive knowledge far beyond her years. In memory of her Grandmother, Grace became the youngest volunteer for Hospice of the North Shore (HNS), based in Danvers, Massachusetts. The largest and most comprehensive hospice and palliative care provider in Massachusetts, Hospice of the North Shore (HNS) provides compassionate support to individuals and families facing life-threatening illnesses wherever they call home, including in its new Hospice House, located in Danvers, MA, a comforting alternative to home for those who need it.

Grace’s efforts on behalf of HNS have educated many families about what it does for the community, motivating her mother to become a direct service volunteer as well. Grace has worked above and beyond her volunteer work to spread the news of HNS by writing to family, friends, and others asking for them to assist HNS anyway they can. She has also collected over 225 new picture frames for HNS clients to keep photos of loved ones close at hand. Enlisting her own Girl Scout troop to help make guest books for patients, Grace has helped provide the means for families, visitors, and staff to write encouraging notes and messages that a HNS client can keep at his or her bedside. Families of dementia patients particularly appreciate the guest books, as it enables them know who has visited their loved one. Grace’s efforts have helped provide over 500 guest books for HNS. She also organized the collection of "therapy boxes”––plastic shoeboxes filled with inexpensive and safe items to help provide dementia patients sensory stimulation during their hospice stay.

Grace has expanded her efforts, recruiting help from other scout troops by attending a local Scout leaders’ meeting to describe her project. A Brownie and Girls scout recruitment effort has used her guestbook project as an example of the good works that prospective Brownies and Girl Scouts can do for their communities.

By continuing to give her time, efforts, and imagination to good works at HNS, Grace sets a great example of what a Brownie and Girl Scout can do and become, while also honoring the spirit of her grandmother and those who helped her in her final days.
To learn more about Hospice of the North Shore, please visit www.hns.org

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