to cut a rose and carry it with you to someone’s bedside.” he says. “There’s something powerful about being able “I want volunteers to have roses to take to patients,”
Enriching
Lives, Together
For Rich, volunteering at Hospice carries a deeply personal connection, since many beloved family members, including both of his parents, received care from the organization. Rich’s daughter, a physician, spent five years working in hospice and palliative care before moving on to lead Penn State Health’s palliative program. “Hospice has always been close to my heart,” he says. “Tey have cared for people we loved.”
Tending the roses, Rich explains, is about more than keeping flowers in bloom. “I want volunteers to have roses to take to patients,” he says. “Tere’s something powerful about being able to cut a rose and carry it with you to someone’s bedside.” He recalls one moving experience when he was asked to plant annuals in a patient’s garden. He had noted to the family that, due to the season, the flowers would not last long. “Her daughter told me, ‘Mom won’t be here by the time frost comes.’ So we planted them and her mother got to see them before she passed. You can’t do anything better than that: bringing joy, even for a short time.”
Rich often brings his 14-year-old granddaughter, Stella, to help him in the gardens. Tis summer, he taught her to prune the roses herself. “It’s special to share this with her,” he says. “She’s learning, and it gives us time together.” Stella even chose volunteering at the annual Hospice plant auction over attending a Penn State football game, a decision that left her grandfather both proud and touched.
Volunteering is nothing new for Rich. He served as a firefighter for 27 years and helped lead youth football in his hometown of New Holland, PA. For him, service has always been a natural way of life. “We do a lot for ourselves,” he reflects. “But when you can do something for someone else, especially someone at the end of life, that’s where the real meaning is.”
At Landis Homes, Rich and Carol have found a supportive community that embodies compassion, one of the organization’s core values. “Every one of the values is lived out here,” he says, “but compassion stands out. Te people here are just wonderful.”
Rich Braine is bringing beauty to others, one bloom at a time.
Landis.org | FLOURISH | Fall 2025 • 5
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