PARIS — Sheila Bacon, hospice volunteer and resident of Greene, started volunteering almost eight years ago. She kept seeing information in the newspaper offering the training and decided it was time.

Bacon said, “I did not realize how much hospice volunteering would teach me about people, life and death. Many people tend to fear death and, thanks to the patients I have met, that fear has greatly decreased for me. When you reach out and give of yourself, you receive the gift of joy.”

Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice has a growing need for hospice volunteers in the Bridgton, Oxford Hills and Rumford areas that have a special interest in visiting patients in their homes and in nursing homes.

The six-session free training will begin Tuesday, April 3, at the Maine Veteran’s Home, 477 Main St. Classes will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays.

For more information about the April training classes, call and ask for Volunteer Services at 1-800-482-7412, ext. 1280, or 795-9580.

For more information on Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, visit www.AHCH.org.