Duke Employee Receives Service Award

Rachel King still remembers one of her first patients in the Duke Hospital pediatric intensive care unit in 1979. The mother of the patient, who was a girl under 2 years old, would sleep in an upright chair at the end of the hall every night, with no other place to rest while her daughter received treatment.The next year, in 1980, the Ronald McDonald House opened in Durham, offering 13 rooms for families facing long stays at Duke Hospital, minimal resources and financial strain. King, a strategic services associate with Duke Hospital Performance Services, started to volunteer for the organization. Since then, she has cooked meals for families, started a cookbook fundraiser for the house in which more than 10,000 cookbook copies have been sold, and served on the organization’s board of directors.For her volunteer efforts, King received the Duke University Employee Service Award from Duke Office of Durham and Regional Affairs this spring. The Employee Service Award has been presented annually since 2004 as a complement to the Lars Lyon Volunteer Service Award that is given to one rising sophomore, junior or senior Duke student annually in April.“This is just another way in which we can acknowledge employees giving their time and their talent,” said Sam Miglarese, director of the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. “Duke employees on their own are giving back to the community in which they live and deciding to serve.”As part of King’s recognition, the Duke Office of Durham and Regional Affairs will present the Ronald McDonald House of Durham with a $200 contribution. Karen Morgan, the Ronald McDonald House of Durham Family Room manager, nominated King for the award. She said she met King about 10 years ago, when Morgan was starting as a new staff member at the house. “She has been a constant here at the house, and this house was started because of people like Rachel, and it’s been maintained and gone through growth because of people like Rachel,” Morgan said. “She’s just a fine person, and just so supportive of our families and so understanding of the crises they’re in.”King has worked at Duke for nearly 41 years, and every Friday around 7 a.m., people can find her volunteering in the Ronald McDonald House Family Room on Duke Hospital’s pediatrics floor. She’ll be making coffee, cleaning showers, doing laundry and talking with families who have a patient in the hospital.“I love to give back,” King said. “The more you give, the more you get back in your life.”