Art for Smiles - A Remote Way to Support Hospice Patients

Patients under hospice care still have birthdays. The problem is: What do you get them that would be meaningful?

As the Volunteer Coordinator for Echo Hospice, I have been tasked to create the celebration when a patient reaches another birthday. As I thought about what this would look like, my mind kept drifting to the idea of art. Wouldn't it be powerful to present the patient, and/or their family members, with an original piece to brighten up their room?

And, because of my background in Volunteer Management, I immediately wanted to make this an opportunity to give back, so that's how this post came about. If you found this post, out of all the other messages on Idealist, then my guess is you have an art background. I hope you'll read on.

I'm intrigued by the open-ended nature of this opportunity, and what people, like you who have an artistic skill, will send in, but there does need to be some guidelines:

SIZE - Most of our patients are in a facility and space tends to be a premium. Ideally, pieces need to be the size of a traditional copy paper, 8.5" x 11", or smaller, but not too much bigger.

SUBJECT MATTER - Art can be used to evoke strong ideas and feelings, but the gesture that we want to convey with this project is 'friendship', 'kindness', 'beauty,'... The kind of subjects that will make someone smile and have them remember the love that is all around.

PRACTICLE MATTER - We are not in a position to sponsor anyone's effort, to reimburse for supplies or any other costs. We are asking for artists to give, or volunteer, every aspect of this effort.

Our thought is that artists in school may have a requirement to do some community work / volunteer effort, and this project would be of interest. We kind of anticipate that participants would just send in one, or a handful, of appropriate pieces, whether done specifically for this idea, or the work was something created for a class. We see this idea as a form of practice for the student artist (of any age, if you're learning to draw/paint late in life), with the benefit of the piece being shared with others: the patient, their family and facility caregivers.

We will honor each artist's contribution with a certificate of appreciation/declaration of volunteer activity made on the behalf of our patients. We also anticipate promoting the gesture on social media, giving your work some attention.

Because this is a special type of volunteering, where you are just mailing in your submissions, no onboarding requirements will be asked of the artist. Of course, no direct access to our patients/families will be allowed, and we will not even be sharing the recipient's name because of HIPAA reasons.

You don't need to contact me before you submit, but if you have questions, just ask. My email is found on the profile page of Echo Hospice of Pennsylvania, LLC, if not in other places too. Our address is: Echo Hospice, 421 N. 7th Street, Suite 602, Philadelphia, PA 19123. (Make sure to include your name and a couple of ways to contact you, like email and text.)