The winner of Georgia’s 2013 Salute
to Senior Service Award is Carole Tutan.
The 78-year-old has logged more than
5,500 hours in the past 15 years at Hospice of Savannah. Home Instead Senior
Care Network sponsored the award and the $500 prize. The award was not given
for the amount of time she volunteers, but for the quality of it.
“Hospice helps the patients and the
caregivers have a better quality of life” Tutan says.
“I’m a people person, I love to make
people smile, to make them feel comfortable, even if that means bringing them
an ice cream cone at midnight.”
If you think the words warm and
fuzzy don’t belong in the same sentence as Hospice, you have obviously never
met Tutan, and more than likely, she’ll say you don’t really understand
Hospice.
Tutan didn’t enter the competition
with the hopes of winning the award for recognition, but to choose the charity
which will receive the $500 prize. She cares about the patients and the
caregivers who have needed the help of Hospice. She cares about her co-workers
and the families who visit loved ones. The only thing she doesn’t seem to care
about is recognition.
The only thing about her volunteer
work at Hospice that she seems shy to discuss is herself. When asked why she
does it, she simply replied, “I cannot imagine volunteering anywhere else.”
Immediately she explains her
favorite picture, the one of a soldier. Tutan believes the single photograph
explains everything clearly. There is a 30-year-old African-American soldier
bravely fighting his last battle. At the foot of the bed is a friend and fellow
soldier. Climbing onto the bed is a military assistance dog, and in the middle
is Tutan’s smiling face.
The young soldier who Carole
describes as “so special, and his smile was just...” her voice trailing off a
bit.
“He asked his friend to let him pet
a dog, a real dog” and the next day the golden Labrador retriever from the base
was there. With a gentle paw on the bed, he seemed to be asking permission for
exactly what the soldier wanted. After a little adjusting, the dog lay beside
the young soldier.
“It’s all there” she says. “Black,
white, young, old, male, female ... it’s what Hospice is all about.”
She is now in the running to receive
the National Award.
Wade Branson - Savannah Morning News
Posted: June 28, 2013
