Alexis Hayward honored for volunteer work at hospice

        Alexis Hayward, a 2023 graduate of Genoa High School, was honored by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) as a Young Leader for her volunteer work at Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg.
        Hayward is a former teen volunteer and current STNA/hospice aide at Hospice of Northwest Ohio.
        According to the NHPCO website, as a teen volunteer, she would frequently assist inpatient hospice aides with patient care, stocking supplies, and anything she could do to allow staff more time to chart or care for their patients. She often visited patients to provide companionship, and formed a special bond with one particular patient, whom she would tell you became her special buddy.  She also volunteered at various community events. 
        Over the course of her two years as a teen volunteer, she volunteered more than 400 hours and earned the prestigious HOSA (Future Health Professionals) Barbara James Service Award.
        Hayward is attending the University of Toledo, pursuing her goal of becoming a nurse “I now know for sure what I want to do with my life after my time volunteering at Hospice,” she said. “Volunteering has helped me learn valuable skills before I even got them in school.” 
        Hayward says she hopes to use the skills she is learning as a hospice aide to become a compassionate, caring and expert nurse.  “Life is a lot shorter than I realized,” she said. “People need to take time to appreciate life and be able to yell ‘YOLO’ [you only live once] before jumping off that cliff.”
        The 2023 “Volunteers are the Foundation of Hospice Awards” were sponsored by the Furst Group and NuBrick Partners.
 
Soltes earns scholarship
        Alexa Soltes, of Oregon, was among over 700 first-year students welcomed to the Baldwin Wallace University campus this fall who earned more than $13.1 million in scholarships for their outstanding high school achievements.      A graduate of Cardinal Stritch High School majoring in dual primary and primary intervention specialist, earned a $21,000 President's Scholarship.