Manheim Township MAY 15, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
A special type of care BY JEFF FALK
D
eath is personal and mysterious. It’s a part of life, the final stage of life. As a registered nurse case manager at Hospice & Community Care of Lancaster, Gordon Smoker has watche d many patients experience the end of life.
How are Rotary Club members and bicycles alike? They both may be underappreciated vehicles for goodness and kindness. Rotar y Club of Lancaster Sunrise’s upcoming Ride for the Community promotes the relationship that exists between
the local cycling community and altruism. It also serves as an opportunity for individuals to explore what Rotary Clubs do. “You don’t have to be a particularly avid, trained athlete to come out and do it,” said Steve Bell, one of Ride for the Community’s directors. “We’re trying to expand our impact on See Rotary pg 4
Cyclists in last year’s Rotary Club of Lancaster Sunshine’s Ride for the Community take a break.
Scouting teaches Nick Harper life lessons BY JEFF FALK
Manheim Township resident Gordon Smoker, a registered nurse case manager, prepares to meet a patient.
more than 200 of whom practice some level of nursing. At any given time, Smoker works with 12 to 25 patients and their families in the Lititz area, the Denver area, north of Ephrata, into Myerstown and Berks County. “Hospice is a great service, and it’s important to the community,” said Smoker. “Hospice care is something many people may be able to benefit from. It doesn’t
have to be a scary thing. It’s like the rest of life. We approach death the way we approach life. It’s the next challenge.” One of 25 hospice providers in Lancaster County, Hospice & Community Care supplied care for 4,800 patients and their families in 2023. “ We ’re here to make our patients’ remaining time the best we can,” said Smoker. “That’s
Not all kids know what they want to be when they grow up. But involvement in activities like Boy Scouts can help them to decide. Nick Harper, a 10th-grader at Manheim Township High School, has been involved with Cub Scouts, Webelos and Boy Scouts through Pack and Troop 84 at St. Peter ’s Lutheran Church, 10 Delp Road, Lancaster, over the last nine years.
“I’ve been into computer science for a while,” said Nick. “I’ve been looking at colleges. I’ve been looking for internships and events that have to do with computer science. I’d say the kind of job I’m looking for is programmer or anything computer science related.” Not just a Boy Scout, Nick is an Eagle Scout. After completing all of the necessar y requirements for the rank, Nick officially became an Eagle Scout at a Court of Honor ceremony at
See Hospice nurse pg 6
See Nick Harper pg 2
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“I feel like we all have our ideas of what death is. Religion and spirituality can provide a framework, but until we’re at the door, we’re not exactly sure what it’s like,” Smoker said. “We truly don’t know what’s going on. It’s a very spiritual time.” In his position, Smoker cares for patients diagnosed as terminal, with six months or less to live, and their caregivers, very often in their homes. There’s a technical side, a medical side, to his profession, but also a mental and emotional side. “There’s a balance you have to find,” said Smoker, a resident of Manheim Township. “You don’t want to be too cold and detached, but you have to be empathetic to what the patient and the families are going through. You have to limit how attached you get. There have been times when I’ve become emotional. Sometimes there’s nothing to say. You have to be able to recognize when people are making those end-oflife changes. You have to be able to talk through things.” Hospice & Community Care employs nearly 400 individuals,
Ride for the Community exemplifies what Rotary is all about BY JEFF FALK
“Hospice is a great service, and it’s important to the community.”
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