It was just another day at work for Kevin Hughes when WBOC stopped by.
“We have some great news for you,” WBOC’s Maxine Bentzel told him. “You are a 2017 WBOC Jefferson Awards winner, Kevin.”
“Thank you very much,” Kevin said. “I don’t know what to say, this is so exciting. I appreciate it very much, though. Thank you very much.”
Kevin volunteers weekly with Coastal Hospice at the Lake in Salisbury, Maryland. He became interested in helping the sick when several of his family members became ill.
“You need to give back in life, you know, and luckily I’ve had a large family,” Kevin said. “Many of them have passed away from cancer and I was able to get involved with the process and I felt I was a big help.”
Kevin is not only a big help, but a calming presence to patients and grieving families.
“Kevin is one in a millon,” said Judy Gilliam of Coastal Hospice. “He comes with us on Thursday nights from 6-10 and if we have a really bad night he’ll stay over a little longer. Sometimes it’s 10:30 before he leaves. And then we always, always, when he leaves we always say, ‘Thank you,’ because he is an amazing person.”
Kevin is always sure to ask his patients what he can do for them. He said, “Sitting down and talking with them asking, ‘What can I do to help make your life a little easier? You know you need to go to lunch. I’ll sit here with your brother or sister or family or mother or father.”
Tamara Fitchett of Coastal Hospice said of Kevin, “He treats everybody the same. He loves what he does. He comes in with a positive attitude and experience throughout the unit.”
Alane Capen, also of Coastal Hospice, said, “There are very few male volunteers and for some patients that’s really special. Sometimes a guy really wants to talk with another guy.”
That’s why Kevin Hughes is a WBOC Jefferson Awards winner.
