"These are not decorations. They are acts of love made visible in a room where love might otherwise have no face."
Every Last Gift Comfort Kit is prepared before it enters a resident's room. The contents are tailored based on one key question: is there a family member or loved one who will want keepsakes? If the answer is no — if no one will be receiving the fingerprint card or Heart Cloth — those items are removed from the basket before it goes in and returned to inventory for a future kit.
This decision is made at intake. When you arrive for your shift, the basket will already be appropriately prepared — either by the coordinator or according to the intake information on file. If you are ever unsure what should be in the basket, contact your coordinator before proceeding.
Full basket goes in — including Heart Cloth and fingerprint card and ink pad.
Keepsakes are collected and returned to coordinator or given directly to family.
Heart Cloth and fingerprint card are removed before the basket enters the room.
They are returned to inventory for a future basket. No fingerprinting is done.
Here is every item in the Last Gift Comfort Kit, what it means, and exactly what you do with it when you arrive in the room.
Soft candlelight transforms a clinical room into something warmer and more human. The battery-operated votives are safe for facility use — no open flame, no fire risk, no need for staff approval.
They signal something wordlessly: someone was here. Someone cared enough to light a light.
Warmth is one of the most basic human comforts. A soft blanket placed over someone who can no longer ask for it is a profound act of care — even if they cannot feel it consciously, the gesture matters.
The blanket may already be on the bed when you arrive if a previous volunteer placed it. If not, it is yours to offer.
The teddy bear serves two purposes depending on who is in the room. For a family member who is struggling — a child, a grieving spouse, anyone who needs something to hold — the bear is for them. For a resident with no family present, the bear is placed near them as a companion presence.
If the resident passes with no family coming, the bear goes with them — to the funeral home or crematory. It does not stay in the basket. It accompanies the person who had no one.
This small framed piece carries the heart of everything this program stands for in four words. It belongs as close to the resident's bedside as possible — ideally placed before they are in the final stages of active dying, so that it has time to be seen.
If family is present, it may bring them comfort as much as the resident. It is a visible reminder that this moment has been witnessed and honored.
The Heart Cloth is ours. It is the ritual that belongs to this program and no other. A small, soft cloth — folded and tied with a bow when it arrives in the basket — placed flat over the area of the heart in the final hours of life.
The intention behind it is simple and profound: this cloth rests closest to the last beating heart. It is there when the heart's final rhythms pass through it. It is, in a sense, a recording of those last moments — something a family can hold that was held against the one they loved as they left.
Many cultures and faith traditions have practices around the heart and its significance at death. We honor those traditions by asking about them at intake. If a family's beliefs would make this practice uncomfortable or inappropriate, we do not use it — and we note this before the basket enters the room.
A fingerprint is one of the most intimate keepsakes a family can receive — something uniquely, irreplaceably that person. The kit contains a fresh ink pad and a 4×6 card with a clearly marked area for the print. The goal is one or two clear thumbprints, or a thumb and index finger — whichever seems most manageable given the circumstances.
The best time to take a fingerprint is before active dying is complete — while the hand is still pliable. Do not wait until after death if you can help it, as the process becomes more difficult. Ideally, fingerprinting is done at intake when the family meets with the coordinator. If it was not done then, and a family member wants it, it falls to you.
If you feel uncomfortable or uncertain, you may ask a facility aide to assist you. You do not have to do this alone.
Every basket carries a tag that reads: "This Last Gift Basket was given in loving memory of: [Name]." If the basket was donated by someone in memory of a loved one, a donor card will also be attached noting who donated it — along with The Last Gift Initiative logo and website.
A second note on the basket or attached tag reads: "Please leave this basket for the family of [Name]." This is for facility staff — so that if the basket is found in the room without a volunteer present, staff know to preserve it for the family rather than removing it.
Leave the basket in the room, clearly labeled. Family manages their own keepsakes. Staff can provide the basket to family or it is picked up with belongings.
Your job is presence — not logistics. The basket takes care of itself.
Collect keepsakes (fingerprint card, Heart Cloth). Place them back in the basket. Take the basket with you and call Trisha or Vonnie — they will arrange pickup or make other arrangements.
If you cannot take the basket, leave it bedside and note this when you debrief.
If the family is not local and will not be coming to collect the basket, keepsakes — the fingerprint card and Heart Cloth — may be mailed to them for a shipping fee. Your coordinator will handle this. You do not need to arrange it yourself.
"You don't need to remember every step perfectly. You need to be present, move with intention, and know that the laminated sheet is there if you need it."
Every candle you light, every blanket you place, every print you take with careful hands — these are not tasks. They are the last tangible acts of love a stranger will ever offer this person. Do them slowly. Do them with care. They matter more than you may ever know.
