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FNS was founded in 1925 by Mary Breckinridge after both of her children died. Her goal was to reduce the maternal and infant mortality rates in Leslie County, Kentucky – located in the Appalachian Mountains.
The Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) provides an opportunity to volunteer time in a rural community in eastern Kentucky.
Today, the FNS still provides quality healthcare. Over the past several years the Courier Program has provided a type of internship for young women and men who had a desire to go into the medical field. Couriers were exposed to rural healthcare through the shadowing of a variety of medical and nursing providers.
The re-structured Courier Program focuses on Mrs. Breckinridge’s original design of bringing young women and men to Appalachia to volunteer their time within the FNS to perform a variety of tasks including transporting guests and or supplies, assisting with the upkeep of buildings/grounds and hosting functions which include special dinners and events at Wendover Couriers may be asked to transport vials of blood from a clinic to the Mary Breckinridge Hospital or simply paint a room at one of the facilities. Couriers also spend their time in the community at the Adult Learning Center, public school system, Hospice, adult daycare, children’s daycare, nursing home, food pantry, Habitat for Humanity, rape crisis center, domestic violence shelter, free clinics and school-located clinics.
For young women and men who are interested in the healthcare field, the Courier Program provides limited opportunities to shadow healthcare professionals including: family nurse practitioners, physicians, nurse-midwives at FNS rural healthcare centers, at Mary Breckinridge Hospital and Home Health Agency.
Couriers must be at least 18 years old and are accepted and required to have a valid driver’s license and a vehicle. Couriers live at the historical headquarters of the FNS located at Wendover in the heart of the Daniel Boone National Forest overlooking the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River. Couriers are accepted for a period of six to eight weeks for a fee of $42.00 per week for room and board and for the complete twelve weeks - $500.00..
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Courier Application
If you are interested in volunteering your services, spending 12 weeks as a
Courier volunteer,
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