Skip to main content
Tails of Joy Animal Assisted Therapy
Upcoming Events
Events

Providing Therapeutic Benefit to People
Through the Use of Animals

Tails of Joy members volunteer throughout Hartford, Tolland and Windham counties and neighboring towns in Connecticut.

News / Articles

Connecticut VNA Partners’ Hospice Recognizes Very Special Volunteers During National Volunteer Week

Published on 4/15/2008
Volunteer Claire Rolando of Vernon Receives D.O.V.E. Award

In celebration of National Volunteer Week, and in keeping with an annual tradition, Connecticut VNA Partners’ Hospice honored community volunteers. Connecticut VNA Partners’ Hospice is a not-for-profit home health and hospice agency dedicated to expanding and strengthening home health care options to residents throughout Central Connecticut. 

At a special award event held to recognize the extraordinary volunteers assigned through the program’s East Hartford office, each honoree was presented with a thank you certificate and a ribbon pin that signified the number of volunteer hours and years of service given to the hospice program. 

Ms. Claire Rolando of Vernon received the highly regarded Dedicated to Outstanding Volunteer Excellence (D.O.V.E.) award. The D.O.V.E. award is given yearly to one volunteer who exhibits exceptional dedication to the program and exemplifies the true spirit of hospice care. 

Deborah Richards, Director of Volunteers for Connecticut VNA’s Hospice and Connecticut VNA Partners’ Hospice, and Kara Mazzola, volunteer coordinator for the East Hartford hospice team, praised Ms. Rolando for her dedication and commitment to the hospice patients she visits. “Claire is a wonderfully warm person and an enthusiastic ambassador for our Pedi-Pal program for children with life-limiting illness. Since 2005, when Claire and her Delta-certified pet therapy dog, a Rottweiler named Bear, joined our program, they’ve brought many smiles and much joy to the numerous patients they’ve visited – both young and old. Her enthusiasm, flexibility and caring spirit make her an outstanding choice to receive this year’s D.O.V.E. award.” 

Connecticut VNA Partners’ Hospice is an affiliate of Masonicare and Saint Francis Hospital. For information on Connecticut VNA’s hospice program or to learn how you can become a volunteer, call 1-888-482-8862.