HOSPICE VOLUNTEERS BRING SMILES AT MALL

Natalie Goyette of Jackson headed to West Park Mall to shop for baby items and to pass a few hours.

But her visit to the mall brought an unexpected treat when volunteers with Southeast Hospice gave away more than 600 hand-crafted sunflower pins in hopes of brightening someone's day.

Sunflower pins have become the Southeast Hospice trademark Random Act of Kindness. Like thousands of other people in the region, the hospice volunteers took time to do something unexpectedly kind.

"What a nice surprise," said Goyette, who is expecting a baby soon. "I certainly didn't expect anything like this."

Goyette's reaction was repeated hundreds of times Wednesday morning as shoppers and shopkeepers accepted the gifts. Many waited, expecting a catch or a sales pitch or a request for a donation. But none came.

"This is so much fun," said Barbara Harrison, a hospice volunteer from Scott City. She walked away from center court with a basket of sunflower pins piled in a dainty basket.

On a more typical day, hospice volunteers spend their time with patients who are dying and with the patients' families.

"Being a hospice volunteer is very rewarding," Harrison explained. "But it sure is nice to have a change of pace like this."

The volunteers began making the pins months ago. They cut, stitched, stuffed, glued and decorated them. Once a week the volunteers met for the "Garden Club." They exchanged pieces and worked together in assembly line fashion.

"We had a great time putting them together," explained Carol Keppler, who coordinates hospice volunteers.

The hospice organization has participated in Random Acts of Kindness since its inception locally. The first year volunteers made cookies. "But we decided we wanted to do something a little different," Keppler said.

A volunteer had a pattern to make the sunflower pins. Last year about 200 pins were made and handed out. This year the number topped 600.

"We're going for 1,000 next year," Keppler said.

About a half dozen volunteers gathered at the mall Wednesday gave a playful groan, and Keppler laughed. "We will, you know," she confided.

Hospice volunteer Sherron Alexander handed a pin to Goyette, and both women did a double take. It turns out that Alexander was Goyette's school teacher a few years ago.

"Isn't this nice," Goyette said, pinning her sunflower to her T-shirt. "I got to see Mrs. Alexander also. Thank you."