By CINDY BISHOP

cindy.bishop@gaflnews.com



CORDELE — Volunteering for the “Pink Ladies” at Crisp Regional Hospital is quite a rewarding experience for one of its members who it turns out, really isn’t a lady at all.

James “Hobie” Kent is the only male volunteer, also known as a “red coat” for the hospital’s auxiliary and says he enjoys being able to bring a little sunshine into someone’s day by doing what he loves — helping others.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Md., Kent says he’s a “misplaced Yankee, but loves it!”

While living in Baltimore, Kent worked as a telephone company technician. At the age of 31 and with 10 years seniority at his job, he said he was ready to try something different.

“I wanted to go to radar school and the company I was working for at the time said ‘no,’” he said. “So that’s when I made up my mind to move to Florida and work as a phone technician at the Kennedy Space Center.

While working and living in Florida, Kent came to Georgia to visit some friends in Hawkinsville. While there, he mentioned that he was interested in buying some land in the area so his friends showed him some different places.

“I rode around and looked at the places and just fell in love with green...everything as far as I could see was green,” 78-year-old Kent said. “That’s when I decided to plant myself in Dooly County in the Tippettville Community.”

Kent said his biggest hurdle in moving to Georgia was getting a transfer from his office in Florida to the company’s office in Macon. However, he did and worked in Bibb County for five years before taking early retirement from the phone company in 1984. He said he enjoyed being retired, but soon found himself wanting and needing to do something to keep himself busy.

That’s when he tried a couple of different jobs, one being at a local hardware store and the other being at a business in Hawkinsville.

“I just didn’t enjoy what I was doing,” he said. “That’s when I found the hospital in Vienna and went to work there as a volunteer.”

He worked there for about a year before the hospital closed its doors.

Then one day while attending church services at the Cordele First United Methodist Church, Kent met a lady who would not only become his co-worker, but his dearest friend.

“I was walking up the stairs to go to my seat and this lady tripped me,” he said. “That’s how I met Betty Kitchens, the Crisp Regional Hospital Auxiliary’s president and my greatest friend.”

He’s now been volunteering as a “red coat” at the hospital for the past eight years and says his job is one of the most rewarding he could have ever imagined.

“It’s a good feeling to know that you’ve done something – no matter how small – to help someone else,” he said. “It gives you a chance to give back.”

Kent only works on Saturday mornings and spends the rest of his time on his hobby – designing, building and running a model railroad in a spare room at his home. He also enjoys spending time with his best friend, his pug “Lackey.”

“I used to work both Saturday and Sunday every week, but it was causing me to have to miss church,” he said. “So I cut back...it just got to be too much.”

Kent said currently there are about 48 members in the Auxiliary, but not all of them work on a routine basis.

“Some of our members can’t always be here so we fill in as much as we’re needed...and we’re always looking for new members to come and join us,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun and the people we help seem to appreciate what we do.”

The members of the Auxiliary do a multitude of things to help the patients at the hospital, as well as the staff there. They deliver flowers and mail to the patients, transport items between hospital departments, manage the gift shop, work at the information desk and raise funds to purchase equipment for the hospital.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer for the CRH Auxiliary should call Betty Kitchens, Auxiliary president at 276-3116, the hospital’s marketing department at 276-3144 or visit www.crispregional.org.