Marilyn Whitehurst is hooked on Haiti.

A couple of years ago, she visited the northern part of the country with her church mission group. Making more Haiti connections when she returned home, Marilyn found out about Community Coalition for Haiti through her work colleague, Larry Walker ( long-time supporter and Board Member). She has since volunteered with CCH on two surgical teams and sponsors a child with our education program. She says, “CCH is a great organization and I’m honored to be a part of it.”

Marilyn began her career as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, which explains her passions for healthcare and children. For the past 20 years she’s been a medical instrument sales representative, currently with Becton Dickinson (BD). Marilyn has deep roots in cross-cultural service. “When my son was little, our family traveled all over the world,” she says, “We wanted to make sure he saw other children in other cultures.” Marilyn looks forward to more trips to Haiti after she retires, but she doesn’t let her job stop her from getting involved now. In addition to her work with CCH medical and education teams, Marilyn helped secure the donation of over 100 books in French to rural schoolchildren in Haiti, thanks to a family connection with the publishing giant, Scholastic.

In April Marilyn was named one of BD’s 2017 Henry P. Becton Volunteer Impact Award Winners. The award recognizes Marilyn and her service to CCH with a grant of $2,400 for wellness related activities (school-based clinics and health education efforts). Out of the 170 volunteers world-wide who were nominated for the award, Marilyn and CCH were selected as one of the 35 winners!

“I’m passionate about this organization,” says Marilyn, “as much as I can I’ll share with my hospital clients, church, and friends to spread the word about CCH.” Marilyn spends so much time singing the praises of CCH, we’re delighted to have this opportunity to celebrate her enthusiastic commitment as a volunteer and say THANK YOU for her service.