Men give back in unexpected ways
This is a story of two people whose surprising expressions of volunteerism have captured the attention of employees at
Though their efforts are unrelated, both men -- and their wives -- share a desire to make the world better for the next guy.
With
'Something I could do'
"Of all the furniture I've built for Helen (his wife) over the years, this is her favorite," he said.
Sitting in the living room of his
"I thought, 'This is something I could do for people.'"
So the 87-year-old man got a list from
He made each of them a sofa server. That meant cutting the wood, building 45 sofa servers and staining them. He also made sofa servers for volunteers at the Hudson Christian Church Food Pantry, which he and Helen started.
"I've probably made and given away 100 (sofa servers) in the past year," said the co-owner of
Chuck has lived in the
Other than an irregular heartbeat -- for which Chuck takes coumadin, a blood thinner to reduce the risk of blood clot -- he has been healthy his entire life.
But on
The next day, he was weaker and had heart palpitations, so Helen called 911. Paramedics rushed him to
"I was bleeding to death," Chuck said. Apparently, the bleeding was caused by the coumadin. "I would have been dead within a few hours."
Khokhar and his colleagues stopped the bleeding, gave Chuck blood transfusions and provided treatment that healed the ulcers.
"At first, it was scary," Helen admitted. "He isn't usually sick. But he received such good care, it made me so much more comfortable."
"It was all new to me," Chuck said. "I just remember that they gave me loving care."
Three days later, back at home, he considered what he could do to thank the people who saved his life. He looked over at Helen's sofa server.
"I use it for everything," Helen said.
Chuck went to work. "He just kept making 'em and making 'em and making 'em," Helen recalled.
On
"Everyone was so overwhelmed," Thacker said. "I thought it was very selfless of him to think of all of us. It made the staff feel very special."
"For someone to do something like that for us when we were doing what we consider a part of our daily jobs was very validating," Khokhar said. "The way that he demonstrated his gratitude is a way that I want to practice gratitude going forward."
All have value
But that's what
"It is not necessarily what the public would have expected, given his years of leadership," admitted
But why isn't Scott volunteering on the hospital system board?
"I did that work for 40 years -- developing strategic plans, budgets, supervising people," he said. "I want to do the volunteering that I didn't have time to do before."
Scott, 64, began in health care administration in
He oversaw design and construction of BroMenn's 1991 building.
"It was exciting," Scott recalled. "It was a matter of leveraging the successes of both organizations into one larger, more successful operation."
His rapport with physicians and the business community was beneficial. So was his personality.
"I was a walk-around manager. I tried to be approachable. I was frequently out and about instead of in my office."
"He was a good listener," Sonja said. "He knew the right questions to ask, accepted input and blended that into a plan to go forward."
In 1993, he was named chief operating officer of a larger hospital in
He and Molly, a teacher, retired in 2014. They spend half the year in
They began volunteering at BroMenn in December. Both volunteer in the materials distribution center and Scott also volunteers transporting and escorting patients.
"I've had a lifelong interest in health care," Scott said. "And it's fun to talk with people who I worked with years ago."
"This is essential work," he said. "And I enjoy doing it."
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