LAUNCHING SHANTI NATIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTE:Why Volunteer Managers Need to Be Lifelong LearnersDr. Charles A. Garfield

The year was 1979 and Shanti had been serving Bay Area clients facing life threatening illnesses for five years. We were one of the first volunteer based organizations of its kind in the nation and over 300 organizations and communities in the U.S. and abroad had contacted us for help in setting up similar services. Already, a large part of my time was spent responding to these inquiries in person and on the phone. I realized the time was right for Shanti to start a national training institute to share our model of volunteer based peer support in a more organized fashion.

CONNECTING THROUGH THE HEARTDr. Charles A. Garfield

The following article is excerpted from a talk given by Charles Garfield to End-of-Life Counselors at Zen Hospice in San Francisco in a training on service.

The purpose of this program is to train spiritual counselors to be teachers, advocates, and guides at the end-of-life. In a sense, all of this talk about end-of-life care is an excuse for talking about conscious living. I don't mean to avoid death and dying, and I'm not downplaying it. This is a very important and necessary task we're embracing here together.

VOLUNTEERING FOR AMERICADr. Charles A. Garfield

In his State of the Union Address, George W. Bush exhorts you—if you are an American citizen—"to commit at least two years, four thousand hours over the rest of your lifetime, to the service of your neighbors and your nation."

Why?