Q&A with Kaide Magee, Hospicare's New Volunteer Manager
In November, Hospicare’s beloved Volunteer Manager Wendy Yettru retired after 26 years in the role. Taking her place is Kaide Magee, whose confident, gentle demeanor and true calling to the work promise to make her a wonderful new manager for the program. Development and Community Relations Director Emily Hopkins interviewed Kaide this week. Here is their conversation, edited for length and clarity.
Q. You’ve had a busy first three months here, I know. What in your background do you think most prepared you for your current role as Hospicare’s Volunteer Services Manager?
A. Being an LMT [licensed massage therapist] for 18 years and providing deeply healing care to my clientele. What drew me to Hospicare is the heart-centered work, helping people, connected from a place of true compassion.
Q. As an LMT, you were the person directly providing the care, through your hands. Will you miss that?
A. Absolutely, absolutely. I really am a hands-on person. The thing that makes this position beautiful for me is the connections I make, with not only the volunteers but also the patients, families and caregivers.
Q. What kind of support do you find that your volunteers need?
A. A lot of clear and confident communication—the professional aspect of communicating with somebody, sometimes about sensitive things.
Q. You inherited a robust volunteer program, didn’t you?
A. Biggest one at the table. I recently met with all of my peers running hospice volunteer programs throughout Central New York. Ours is the biggest program.
Q. What’s your vision for the program’s future?
A. Right now we’re at 80 volunteers, and I would like to see it get to over 100. I want to put energy into education for volunteers and the community around many things. Right now, I’m focusing on death doula education and training. We are the only hospice in the region that doesn’t already have death doulas built into our patient services. As I’m seeing the discrepancy, I want to support it. And the other priority is to get more massage therapy for patients. I have two volunteer massage therapists, but that’s just not enough to fill the existing demand. I’m looking into the possibility of attracting funding, either through grants or individual gifts to Hospicare, to be able to hire a team of massage therapists.
Q. You're holding an in-person hospice volunteer training in April for new volunteers. Is there space left in the class?
A. Yes. The training is April 18+19 and 25+26 from 9-2 each day. All four days are required.
The training is no joke. It’s 20+ hours. So, it’s a big commitment to train and have all your medical requirements fulfilled: proof of vaccines and a physical.
Q. Where did you grow up?
A. Trumansburg.
Q. Did you know about Hospicare?
A. My grandmother was on hospice [with Hospicare] in April 2025. It was absolutely a beautiful experience. It stimulated something in me that I didn’t know was there. She was at home for 5 months and then came to the Hospicare resident for the last six weeks of her life.
Oh my goodness, they [the Hospicare staff and volunteers] were the kindest, most compassionate, most gentle, supportive human beings. By the end of it, they felt like family. It felt very aligned with my outlook on life.