Own Experience as a Patient Inspired Choice to Become Moffitt Volunteer
Meet Amy Bondon
Amy Bondon, the recent recipient of the Bruce and Loyce Mackey Patient and Family Advisory Council Volunteer of the Year Award, began volunteering at Moffitt in 2019 after her own experience as a patient. As a volunteer, Bondon has been a Comfort Companion since the inception of the program and has “had the honor of partaking in many end-of-life vigils.” She also assists with Moffitt's Patient and Family Advisory Program, which was established in 2005 to bring the patient and family perspective into everything Moffitt does.
Why did you choose to volunteer at Moffitt?
In 2019 I was a patient enduring many surgeries, treatment and a life-threatening complication that greatly endangered my life… alone. At Moffitt I never felt alone and when I was strong enough, I was compelled to try to give back some of the life-affirming love, support, care and empathy that all the team here gave me.
What is your favorite memory as a Moffitt volunteer?
Lots of competition in this category. I see incredible love in the midst of such adversity and it gives me such hope in the human spirit.
The other day I was visiting with a beautiful, vibrant 95-year-old lady who shared parts of her remarkable life as a dairy farmer in Michigan. She told me she and her husband had been married 73 years, all of them healthy, working and even flying their plane right up until a few years ago. She was waiting for him to complete a PET scan. My back was to the hallway. All of a sudden, her absolutely beautiful face lit up with a huge smile and she said, “there’s my honey!” Oh my goodness you would have thought they were teenage sweethearts. The beauty of that moment and the love in that smile I will never forget.
What is the most rewarding part of volunteering at Moffitt?
The “boomerang joy” that comes from getting back such treasured warmth, appreciation and kindness from the precious people I am so blessed to come along side of in my adventures in the clinics and hallways and waiting areas and hospital floors. I get back way more than I could ever give. These dear ones melt my heart and give me purpose. Volunteering at Moffitt is the joy of my life.
To learn more about Moffitt’s Volunteer Services and how you can get involved, visit Moffitt.org/Volunteer.
