Volunteer Spotlight: Finding Happiness in Giving Back

The University of Akron is home to over 27,000 students, studying over 300  majors, nestled in Northeast Ohio. Among those thousands of  academics  working hard to break into the field of their choice is Bobbi Niedenthal. When she’s not studying or going to class, she volunteers for Crossroads Hospice in  the Northeast Ohio office.

Many college students focus on social movements -- or their social life -- and  campus happenings. Bobbi has chosen to see what life’s like off campus, and spends her time with the Green Team. She originally heard about volunteer opportunities while taking a college course taught by the Support Services Director at Crossroads, Ron Davis. Bobbi’s ambition and passion for volunteering has given her the opportunity to take on responsibilities such as promoting and cultivating a wide range of volunteer opportunities to the community and designing creative ways to recognize and appreciate fellow volunteers. She’s also assisted multiple departments within Crossroads with various projects, and, maybe most importantly, has provided meaningful companionship visits with patients. As a Happiness Project volunteer, she finds ways to deliver smiles to patients. She says, “My favorite experience so far was having the opportunity to have both the patients I visit together at the same table playing games, enjoying each other’s company, and seeing a new friendship blossom.” Bobbi is always willing to take the initiative to find advanced methods to better serve Crossroads’ patients. As a volunteer, Bobbi developed a complex grant request to help our volunteers meet the needs of our dementia patients.  Bobbi not only demonstrated courage by stepping up to take the lead in this grant request, but she displayed her global leadership abilities by taking the time to understand different perspectives and limitations, creating an action plan and effectively following up on questions and needs. Bobbi will continue to volunteer in the spring as a Social Work Intern. Crossroads is excited to see her growth as a volunteer and truly appreciate the value she adds to the Green Team!

If you would like to offer a hand like Bobbi, please visit our Volunteer Application form or call us at 888-564-3405.

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