Highmark Caring Place To Honor Midstate Volunteers

More Than 6,500 Hours Dedicated to Help Grieving Children and Families

CAMP HILL, Pa. June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The Highmark Caring Place will recognize 185 volunteers on Monday, June 15 at the Radisson Penn Harris Convention Center. These individuals have collectively volunteered more than 6,500 hours - an average of nearly 35 hours each during the past year - in support of grieving children, adolescents and their families at the Caring Place facility in Lemoyne.

"The Highmark Caring Place sessions for grieving children and their parents or guardians are available at no cost to any grieving family in the community and are conducted, to a large extent, by trained volunteers," said Highmark Caring Place Director Terese Vorsheck. "Their support is integral to the program's success as they create a safe place where children and their families can know that they are not alone in their grief and understand that hope and healing are possible."

Volunteers at the Caring Place serve a variety of roles, including group session facilitators, food servers, family greeters, quilters and more. Volunteers who work directly with the grieving children and adults in the group sessions complete an extensive 26-hour training session.

Support group volunteers who will receive special acknowledgement at the volunteer event for their five years of service to the Highmark Caring Place include:

        Dauphin County
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        Darlene Beck, Harrisburg
        Dave Delbiondo, Harrisburg
        Matt Jacobs, Harrisburg
        Yvette Keefer, Middletown
        Shelley Marshall-McCown, Harrisburg
        Marni Micek, Harrisburg
        Pearl Sweeting, Harrisburg

        Cumberland County
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        Sue Archer, Mechanicsburg
        Patty Bridy, Camp Hill
        Barbara Caboot, New Cumberland
        Kathy Cable, Camp Hill
        Susie Deeter, Mechanicsburg
        Lynn Enck, Boiling Springs
        Heidi Orris, Mechanicsburg
        Liz Kolonoski, Mechanicsburg
        Lynda Moreno, Camp Hill
        Gayeta Porter, Mechanicsburg
        Joe Porter, Mechanicsburg
        Maggie Ruff, New Cumberland
        Kathie Seydor, Camp Hill
        Gina Steele, Mechanicsburg
        Jody Swanger, Mechanicsburg
        Joe Szolek, Mechanicsburg
        Donna Yoder, Mechanicsburg
        Chris Zielonis, Mechanicsburg
        Tracy Zimmerman, Mechanicsburg

        Lancaster County
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        Terri Bowling, Lancaster


        Perry County
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        Judy Yohn, Duncannon

        York County
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        Lisa Pedersen, Etters
        Devora Sherfy, Dillsburg

About the Highmark Caring Place

The Highmark Caring Place, A Center for Grieving Children, Adolescents, and Their Families, provides peer support groups, referral services, adult telephone support, and educational programs and resources for grieving children and families. In addition, consultation services, as well as educational presentations and resources, are available for schools and other professionals in the community who work with children. The Highmark Caring Place is a community resource, offering services at no charge to any grieving family throughout the community.

The Highmark Caring Place operates four facilities, located in Lemoyne, Pittsburgh, Erie and Warrendale. Since the opening of the first Caring Place in 1997, the program has served more than 30,000 family members and community partners.

The Highmark Caring Place is a signature partner of Highmark Healthy High 5, an initiative of the Highmark Foundation, that aims to reverse the current trends in children's health and to promote lifelong healthy habits in children.

For more information about the Highmark Caring Place in Lemoyne, call 1-866-613-HOPE (4673) or visit www.highmarkcaringplace.com.

SOURCE Highmark Caring Place

RELATED LINKS
http://www.highmarkcaringplace.com