Jena Lewis delivered a raffle prize to Valerie's House Founder and CEO Angela Melvin, who won an auction at the Alzheimer's Association's event in downtown Fort Myers last summer.

Jena had heard about Valerie's House but didn't know about its mission.

While delivering the prize, she received a tour of the house and was enlightened about what goes on at Valerie's House. She knew she wanted to be a part of the organization and help in some way at that very moment.

"The idea that I could provide an opportunity to help grieving children, which is something so many of us in older generations had missed, was golden," Jena said.

There was luckily a volunteer training the following weekend, and Jena has been volunteering every week since.

Jena primarily spends time with the youngest children receiving support at Valerie's House- Fort Myers, guiding this group through the week's particular activity.

"The activities are always different and always creative, helps lead the children to discuss not only feelings, struggles at home or school, but also serve as a way to help preserve treasured memories," Jena said.

Volunteering with Valerie's House has opened her eyes to the need for grief support in our community, especially for children. She believes every grieving child would benefit from a place like Valerie's House.

"I had never before spent time with such a large group of people that shared so many similar stories of experiences dealing with the death of a parent or parents at a young age," said Jena.

As we celebrate Jena's upcoming one-year volunteer anniversary, we want to thank her for her passion and commitment to helping the children and families at Valerie's House.