By Millie Becker, Volunteer Coordinator, Kirva Hospice
A knitting guild, friendship and therapy pets are not the first things you think about when it comes to hospice care.
Kirva Hospice has volunteers who are an integral part of our team. We train them in hospice care, end-of-life issues and how to best support our patients and families during this sacred time.
Volunteer Rhona Arenstein said, “When I say that I volunteer for hospice the typical response is I couldn’t do that. But I get more from this work than I could ever imagine.”

Volunteers are retired doctors, health care workers, VCU graduate students, and a personal experience with hospice.
We have mother and daughter volunteers, Jennifer and Ellie Brandeis. who recently moved here from Pittsburgh and wanted to get involved in the Richmond Jewish community.
Our volunteer therapy dog, Sophie, and owner Ellen Bernstein, a member of Or Atid Synagogue bring unconditional love and the patients light up when Sophie comes to visit.
“Our Kirva knitting guild is another way for those to support Kirva and give back. These women are each ambassadors for a great service to our community. We knit with a purpose,” says Rhona Arenstein.
She and Lynn Schwartz created a community knitting group to make lap blankets for our patients this past Spring. We have over 35 knitters – experts and newbies who meet regularly at Sandy Sisisky’s West End Needlepoint shop.
Sandy has generously given us space every week to come knit together. Suzy Schreibfeder, who is an expert knitter and owned a knitting shop in Baltimore, has helped many of us with our knitting issues. The finished blankets are a work of art, and the patients are so grateful when they receive them.
We are always looking for caring volunteers to join our team. Please contact Milllie Becker at mbecker@kirvahospice.org