“I found that I could give of myself and get more back than I ever thought that I was giving.”
—Lee Trevor

When Lutheran Home resident Adelia Kastning was suddenly rushed to the hospital, she had no family nearby to help and comfort her. But she had Leewyn “Lee” Trevor, a Lutheran Home volunteer who visits Adelia and other residents as a Friendly Visitor. Lee says, “I took good care of Adelia like I would my own mother.” Lee also has no relatives in the area, so she and Lutheran Home residents are family for each other. She says, “Adelia has become my mother and her children have become my siblings.”

Healing from a job loss

In 1999, Lee began volunteering at the Lutheran Home, a Lutheran Life Community in Arlington Heights, Ill., following the loss of her job as a purchasing manager. “I really loved my job,” Lee says. “I was very hurt and it took a long time to change my thinking. Once I started volunteering, my whole attitude changed. I found that I could give of myself and get more back than I ever thought that I was giving.” Lee says that volunteering is about listening, sharing and giving. She says, “I listen because they need to get things off their chest, and who else can listen to them when they don’t have relatives nearby?” They share their life experiences with Lee and she shares hers. She says, “To hear their experiences and have them share their lives with me is a wonderful, wonderful thing and it brought me very close to many of the ladies.

Quite a few of their families have kept in touch with me. So it’s made me feel good.” Lee likes to give residents small gifts she collects while traveling, including olivewood crosses she brought back from a trip to the Holy Land. Some residents have entire collections of her gifts in their rooms.

Towards the end of his life, Lee’s husband, Gary, was a short-term rehabilitation resident at the Lutheran Home. Lee was very pleased with the care he received.

A lasting remembrance

Lee says, “I feel so good about all that has happened at the Lutheran Home. I’ve learned to love it more and more, and feel more and more comfortable here.” Lee recently informed the Foundation that she has left the Lutheran Home a generous charitable bequest in her will. In doing so, she will leave a legacy of love and compassion that will benefit Lutheran Home residents in the future. Lee will be recognized as a member of the Lutheran Life Communities Generations Society, which recognizes donors who have made a provision for a Lutheran Life Community in their will, or have made another deferred or planned gift arrangement. Lee says, “It’s a wonderful place and I think people take it for granted that the Lutheran Home has plenty of money and doesn’t need their gifts. It’s an honor to be able to donate for something special.”

How to Give

For more information about how you can create a living legacy of compassion through a bequest, cash or other gift, send an e-mail to foundation@lutheranlifecommunities.org or call Carl Bendorf, Vice President of Advancement, at (847) 754-3663. Or, you can give online.

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