Local Boy Scout Builds Meditation Garden at Samaritan Center

Eagle Scout candidate Matthew Colden recently installed a meditation garden at The Samaritan Center at Voorhees to secure his Eagle Scout level. Colden, a Medford resident, led the one-day installation of benches and a bird bath, with help from his fellow members of Scouts BSA Troop #2026.

Inspired by Colden’s grandfather, Branko Jakominich, who was a patient at the Center before passing away in 2019, the meditation garden is a quiet, soothing spot for patients and their families to enjoy.

The Samaritan Center at Voorhees is South Jersey’s only free-standing inpatient hospice center, providing round-the-clock care for patients and their families in a peaceful home-like environment.

For more information on The Samaritan Center at Voorhees, visit: https://samaritannj.org/hospice-care/inpatient-hospice-nj/voorhees/.

About Samaritan:

Samaritan is a not-for-profit, independent organization locally founded in Moorestown, New Jersey in 1980 as one of the first hospices in the country. Samaritan is now one of the State’s leading providers of hospice care, palliative (comfort) medicine, at-home primary care, grief support and counseling, advanced illness care, education and advocacy. Samaritan serves people in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Mercer counties who are coping with the stresses of aging, serious illness or grief wherever they call home. Samaritan also has two dedicated inpatient hospice centers in Voorhees and Mount Holly. Beyond the services covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance plans, Samaritan annually provides nearly $1M in donor-funded non-reimbursed care for patients and families in the South Jersey region. A thrift shop in Westmont also supports Samaritan services and programs. Samaritan is accredited by The Joint Commission; a member of the National Partnership for Hospice Innovation; and is a four-star hospice in the national We Honor Veterans program. For more information, visit www.SamaritanNJ.org.