Honey Lake Hospice announces scholarship winner

The Honey Lake Hospice announces the recipient of the Marge Dunlavy Memorial Scholarship — awarded annually to the most deserving applicant who is pursuing a degree in a health-related field with a special interest in gerontology, oncology or hospice and palliative care.

This year’s $1,500 award is being given to Erin Burnett who is currently attending UC Davis and working towards a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology, physiology and behavior.  She also volunteers at Atria’s Assisted Living Facility and with the Vitalant Blood Drive.

Burnett’s instructors and mentors commend her as being highly motivated and having a drive to help others and her quest for academic knowledge is insatiable.  Traits of maturity and independence have developed from having to be self-supporting as a teenager.  This carried forward in her taking advanced placement classes and earning exemplary grades.

As young as 11, Burnett was convinced she would become a surgeon.  In junior high she had the opportunity to visit with residents at Fallbrook Senior Living Center and she said, “Something within me clicked into place.”  Then, while being a caregiver for her grandfather who was undergoing cancer treatment, she witnessed the importance of nurses and staff to the wellbeing of the patients.  Her awareness of their ability to help him maintain a positive attitude led her to feel she was truly being called into the field of nursing.

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The desire to serve has continued to evolve and Burnett would like to work alongside programs such as Doctors Without Borders and Mercy Ships.  She would like to pursue a specialty in either oncology or hospice care where she feels she will be able to make the most impact.

Honey Lake Hospice is an all-volunteer organization that has been providing services to our community since 2004.  It is dedicated to offering end-of-life support with a program of flexible services providing compassionate and supportive care in the setting of the patient’s choosing.

For more information about Honey Lake Hospice and the services available call the hospice office at 257-3137.