Hospice care is first and foremost a personal, locally based service. Its benefits to the patient and their caregivers are straightforward. What may be less obvious is that hospice also helps employers and the community. By alleviating caregivers' day-to-day concerns, it allows them to fulfill their life commitments to work, to school and to their families. To provide the level of service needed, ISHO and your local hospice seeks and welcomes help at many levels. There are many ways that individuals, local businesses, community organizations and churches can become involved in hospice and palliative care. Volunteer your time and your energy. Most hospices would not be able to do what they do without their trained volunteers, especially in a state as rural as Idaho. Refer those whom you think might be in need. Spread the good word: share your favorite hospice stories and good experiences with others, even the local media. Help us to make death a subject that is okay to talk about and hospice a service that is more visible in the local community. Contribute to the Idaho State Hospice Organization or to your local hospice. Make hospice part of your annual giving. Your gift is tax-deductible. (ISHO is a tax-exempt organization under Section 5019(c) of the Internal Revenue Service Code and as such, can accept tax-deductible donations.) Memorialize those you love by giving gifts in their name. Request that donations be made to hospice 'in lieu of flowers'. Participate in hospice fund-raising events. Support social and political programs to improve end-of-life care. For example, learn more about legislation on patients' bill of rights, Medicare/Medicaid improvements, and defining the role of certain pain control substances (For example, see Americans for Better Care of the Dying - www.abcd-caring.org).