LEWISTON – In response to increasing needs, Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice is seeking individuals who are interested in volunteering to help patients and their families.

The need for volunteer support continues to grow in all areas, according to Nancy Greene, volunteer coordinator. Classes will be held in May and June in Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties.

A three-hour training class for grocery, visiting and transportation volunteers will be held in Lewiston and in Wilton from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 15 and in Oxford from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, May 17.

Grocery, visiting and transportation volunteers are needed to support homebound patients who are recovering from an illness. Grocery volunteers shop and deliver food and medications on a regular basis; visiting volunteers provide two to four hours of companionship each week and transportation volunteers drive patients or caregivers to medical appointments and other needs. Training class is required.

Training for hospice and bereavement volunteers to support terminally ill patients and their families have also been scheduled in Lewiston, a 27-hour hospice training class, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, May 29 to June 26.

Hospice volunteers provide two to four hours/week of support for patients at home, in long-term care facilities and at the AHCH Hospice House in Auburn. Their support includes companionship, respite so that caregivers can take a break for several hours and help with errands and other needs.

In Lewiston, a 15-hour bereavement training class will be held Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, June 7 to 21.

Bereavement volunteers provide about two to four hours of one-on-one visiting or telephone support to families after the death of a hospice patients.

Preregistration is required for the classes. For more information, contact AHCH volunteer services at 777-7740 or 1-800-482-7412. More information can also be found at ahch.org.