On Friday, April 24, friends, family, volunteers and staff came together at Hospice House in Rapid City to celebrate Marlene Hart and the incredible impact she has made. Marlene, who gives her age as 92.5 (half years matter when you have been around for so long), has become a beloved volunteer at Hospice House. For the last 19 years, she has delivered handmade baskets full of goodies to both patients and staff.
Marlene worked as a phone company operator during the days when the manual switchboard was still in use. She retired in 1992. When her husband fell ill, he spent his last days at Hospice House.
“My husband passed away in 2007 and, right away that summer, I went through the hospice volunteer training. I took baskets to each training session. Barb Vargo was the coordinator at the time and she said, ‘you could make these all the time.’ It kind of got me going,” Marlene says.
After completing volunteer training, Marlene discovered that being at a patient’s bedside was not her preference. So, she began purchasing basket-making kits to construct and fill with candy. These she delivered to Hospice House about once a month.
With the baskets, Marlene found a meaningful way to give back to the people and place that supported her when she needed it most. For nearly two decades, she has quietly turned that gratitude into something tangible, thoughtful and deeply felt.
Marlene has been delivering the baskets for so long, she has seen two Hospice House volunteer coordinators overlap. The first, Barb, was familiar with Marlene and her ongoing basket project.
“Marlene would make designs for Valentine’s Day and designs for Christmas. She took that on, created her own job description and really did something to enrich people’s lives,” says Barb.
There was a brief time after Barb left Hospice House and her successor, Deb Hanna, took over when nobody knew who was bringing in the gift baskets. They simply appeared. Whomever was bringing them would slip in and slip out unnoticed. The minor mystery was soon solved, however.
“She always makes a big basket for the staff, as well. If patients are not able to eat at the time, they will share it with their families. Or they’ll use the baskets to put their extra straws in or just little things and they’ll have them by their bedside tables,” says Deb. “I don’t even know if she has ever used the same two patterns. She comes up with something new every time.”
For the last few years, Marlene has been shuttled to Rapid City from Buffalo, Wyoming where she lives with her daughter, Candee, who does the driving.
“I figured 12 baskets — really 14, because I make two big ones — so, 14 baskets a month for 12 months a year for 19 years. I can’t remember what the number was,” Marlene says.
For the record, it adds up to 3,192 baskets lovingly crafted by Marlene, each one a small act of care for hospice patients, their families and staff.
The amount of kindness Marlene put into each of those 3,192 baskets, however, can’t be calculated.
Story by Kory Lanphear