Miami, Florida, August 7, 2007—Being wheelchair-bound does not keep Edward Turnberger of Newark, Delaware, from being the most mobile volunteer at VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® of Delaware. He was recently honored for his efforts at the company’s prestigious National Employee Recognition Awards.

VITAS, the nation’s leading hospice provider with 8,640 employees, each year recognizes those who best serve their patients, families and fellow employees. Turnberger, a VITAS volunteer since 2005, was among this year’s 25 honorees.

As the owner of a fleet of wheelchair-accessible rental vans, Turnberger has the means to transport patients. When a VITAS patient in a nursing home, for example, spoke nostalgically about the farm on which he grew up, Turnberger drove the man to see the farm. When gas prices rose prohibitively high, Turnberger was the only volunteer willing and able to visit VITAS patients living in nursing homes 50 miles away. Turnberger also volunteers with Meals on Wheels and the Delaware Commission for the Blind.

As one of the “best of the best,” Turnberger received the Richard Wolf Volunteer Achievement Award and a weekend celebration at a beachfront hotel in South Florida.