PORT ANGELES — To a traditional accountant, this operation might not pencil out.

Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, which marked its 33rd anniversary this month, provides free care, medical equipment and grief support for terminally ill people and their loved ones.

And its clientele is growing: An average of 90 patients seek and receive its services every month.

To meet this need, the agency hired two more nurses in 2011, bringing the total paid staff to nine, including Executive Director Sue Hynes, who is also a nurse.

Projected expenses for Volunteer Hospice in 2011 are just north of $479,000, according to Ray Weinmann, board treasurer.

Nurses’ salaries and benefits add up to 74 percent of that, while utilities, insurance and other costs of running the Hospice office constitute the rest.

The rub lies in the revenue, which this year is expected to be just under $306,000, which means the agency is looking at a deficit of $173,000.

Yet no Hospice client — not the terminally ill patients nor their family members — will be charged for services, Weinmann said.

To cover the deficit, Hospice will dip into its $1.65 million rainy-day fund.

That fund exists, Weinmann said, thanks to steadfast community support, and because this agency was founded — and continues to thrive — with an army of volunteers.

Volunteering from the beginning

Volunteer No. 1 was Rose Crumb, who began Hospice of Clallam County 33 years ago.

She retired in 2009, after 31 years of working for no pay.

At that time, the agency had a monthly patient count of 70, and just four salaried nurses.

“We knew that when Rose retired, we would have to hire an executive director,” Weinmann said.

Before Crumb’s departure, Volunteer Hospice’s board of directors had gotten busy fundraising, and “because of the generosity of the community, we were able to build up our reserves.”

This November, Hospice’s staff and volunteers were primed to mark their anniversary — though they knew they had to issue yet another appeal for financial support.

Direct-mail campaign

For the first time, Hospice began a direct-mail campaign: a fundraising letter.

The response has been healthy: Some $16,500 in donations have come in so far, Weinmann said last week.

The gifts dropped off a little during the days before Thanksgiving, though.

Weinmann and his fellow Hospice workers are hoping, naturally, that they will pick up again during the giving season.

Those who support Hospice, as donors, volunteers or both, show a quiet devotion.

Walk into the office, and you’re likely to meet people like Enid Pellow, a retired teacher.

In this volunteer work, Pellow said, she receives every bit as much as she gives.

Hospice care — delivering medical supplies, reading to or just sitting beside a patient for an afternoon while his wife slips out for a cup of coffee with a friend — has a way of lifting the spirits, Weinmann added.

Hospice’s mission is to help patients stay at home with loved ones during their final days.

Improve quality of life

And doing something to improve quality of life, Weinmann added, simply feels good.

When Weinmann’s wife, Beverly, succumbed to brain cancer in 1992, she died at home, in his arms.

Thanks to Volunteer Hospice workers, she didn’t have to stay in a hospital.

“For that, I was very grateful,” he said.

Eileen Damian is another Volunteer Hospice board member who began working in the office in 2002.

She’s watched Crumb, and then Hynes, counsel families who have just received news of a loved one’s terminal illness.

She has also watched as volunteers and nurses accompanied those families on their journeys, from end-of-life care to the death of their loved one, and onward to Hospice’s grief support groups.

‘A swell in your heart’

“You feel a swell in your heart,”she added, “when someone says to you, ‘You have no idea how much I appreciate what you’ve done.’”

For their part, Damian and Weinmann share a feeling of gratitude, even amazement.

“It is only by the grace of the volunteers that we are still here. The heart and soul of Hospice continues to be the volunteers and the nurses,” Damian said.

For this organization — one of the few in the nation providing care at no charge — to be looking toward its 34th year “is absolutely incredible.”

As it confronts its financial challenges, Volunteer Hospice also faces “a changing of the guard,” Weinmann added.

Several board members have stepped down, saying they want to pursue other activities after long stints with Hospice.

He and the five remaining are looking for new people to work on grant applications, community outreach and fundraisers.

Fundraiser in January

One of those is coming up: “An Evening with Elvis,” Jan. 7 at the Vern Burton Community Center in Port Angeles.

For information about that event, which will star four Elvis Presley impersonators, phone 360-457-7700.

Other volunteers are needed too, and a training for newcomers is planned for early 2012.

Hospice volunteers do just about everything, from answering the phone at the office to delivering hospital-style beds to patients’ homes to updating Hospice’s computer system.

Many also provide respite care, so that a patient’s caregiver — husband, wife, son, daughter, sibling — can have a break.

To learn more about supporting Hospice as a contributor or volunteer, or about the agency’s free grief support groups in Port Angeles and Sequim, visit the office at 540 W. Eighth St. between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays, or phone 360-452-1511.

“We anticipate our workload will increase as the population ages,” Weinmann said, adding that he and the Volunteer Hospice team are determined to maintain their independence.

Many hospice agencies around the country rely on Medicare, Weinmann said, but Volunteer Hospice’s staff wants to stay clear of that and its attendant paperwork.

“We’re optimistic,” Weinmann added.

“We’re counting on the community.”

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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.