Chelsey Parr
Regular volunteer
Intuitive, genuine, observer, flexibility, invaluable!

Chelsey Parr has been on the Sanford Fargo Hospice team as a hair stylist volunteer for the last several months. Chelsey is in her 30’s. She has been married to her husband, Peter, for three years. She is a beautician at M.J. Cappelli in Fargo, North Dakota. Chelsey’s flexibility in being able to meet each patient where they are - the Hospice House, the patients’ homes or nursing home facilities – is invaluable. Chelsey has the gift of observation, knowing when to speak and just what to say. Her genuine nature cannot be hidden. She quickly puts each patient at ease as she starts to do her magic. In Chelsey’s words, “What I enjoy most is being able to bring an everyday experience, like getting your haircut, into their lives. It really doesn’t matter what the haircut looks like in the end; the patients are just so thankful to have a bit of normalcy brought back into their lives, even for just an hour.” She remembers after her first patient’s haircut, the patient and his wife (both in their 90’s) were filled with joy over the experience. She said, “It is moments like this that make it all worth it.”

Alice Hidalgo 
Regular Volunteer
Mayo Clinic Hospice
Motivating, Compassionate, Educator, Mentor, Advocate

We are endorsing Alice Hidalgo for the MNHPC 2025 Volunteer of the Year Award. Alice has been a dedicated volunteer with Mayo Clinic Hospice for 18 years and has become an expert in Grief Group Facilitation. Our staff highly values Alice’s expertise, and we invited her to assist in redesigning the duration, curriculum, and frequency of our grief support groups. Alice graciously agreed and helped reshape these groups into a more sustainable model that better fits the needs of our bereaved community. Alice also bravely pioneered hosting virtual grief groups. Which were a success, thanks to her support. Alice also played a crucial role in developing our volunteer training curriculum. She attends in-person training sessions to inspire and support new volunteers and routinely mentors new volunteers during grief groups to ensure they are comfortable and confident in their roles. Additionally, Alice is a strong advocate for our program. She regularly assists with community outreach events and encourages people she knows to volunteer and accept hospice and bereavement support when needed. Without Alice’s support, compassion, and expertise, we would not have the stellar bereavement volunteers we currently have to support our grief groups. Please consider Alice for this award.

Helen Jane Feda
Regular Volunteer
Devoted, Hard Working, Resilient, Kind, Accommodating

Helen Feda began her training to be a volunteer for hospice in 1983 and yes, that is correct, this year will mark 41 years of volunteering for Hospice of Douglas County. Although she has always worked full time she has continued over these many years to provide support to our patients as well as being a strong advocate for hospice. She has not only taken on assignments with out patients but is willing to drive distances to see them. When visits are difficult she is able to adapt. She has always volunteered to help with our Annual Butterfly Release as well as attending community events to providing information on hospice. This past year she and her little dog Bella have become certified dog therapy volunteers and have stepped up their game with making those as well. As our volunteer program has changed and advanced, Helen has kept up and changed along with it. She is a valuable asset to Hospice of Dougals County.

Terry Sylvester
CentraCare Hospice, Saint Cloud, MN
Compassionate, joyful, loving, dedicated, humble

Twenty-five years; over 2,300 volunteer hours, and countless patients served. Terry is an exemplary visiting hospice volunteer. Terry has an exuberant and joyful personality, with an openness that lends to an easy familiarity. One just cannot help but be drawn to her. She shares friendship, comforting words, hugs, and support to her patients. Her compassion extends to the family, giving space for laughter, tears, reminiscing or a warm embrace. Terry stands out because of her innate ability to connect in deep and meaningful ways. She’s able to bless those she serves in ways that can only come from a heart of love. A gift of homemade sugar cookies to a patient after learning they were their favorite cookie. Most recently she worked as a “scribe” for a patient. At each visit, Terry read correspondence letters the patient had received and wrote response letters as verbalized by the patient. A beautiful friendship was formed. This relationship became so integral to the patient and family that they would include greetings and communication with Terry herself as well. Terry truly exemplifies the hospice philosophy. She develops friendships with her patients, and does so with steadfast dedication, compassion, dignity, support, and most importantly, love.

Judi Marshall

Sholom Hospice
Patient, knowledgeable, competent, reliable, humble

Judi takes on some of our most complex cases, typically involving family dynamics that require a lot of time to support the parties in a way that they want to be supported. (Staff appreciate this 😊) She takes her time, she is methodical and she is nearly always effective with her thoughtful, thorough and gentle approach. Judi is someone I can count on to know when she needs to take a break. I can ask and know that if it isn’t right, she will say no. The result is longevity with the program, which is worth gold to us. When the opportunity presented itself for her to train as an End of Life Doula, Judi took advantage. Not only has she increased her scope as a hospice volunteer, but she is also someone I can count on to mentor new doulas helping to develop them into effective and confident doulas. Judi works within a team of Doulas. This team works together to give excellent care. Although she has seniority, she believes that the diversity of the group is it’s strength. Her teammates describe her as the one you go to when your stuck. We are lucky to have Judi choose us.