Baptist Health donates shoes in honor of late patient care tech
Dec. 9—Missy Lovin had a passion for shoes.
Another love was for her patients at Baptist Health Richmond.
As a patient care technician, Lovin spent years caring for the seriously ill and injured in Baptist Health Richmond's intensive care unit.
According to hospital officials, Lovin was beloved by her patients and co-workers alike.
Lovin's enthusiasm for her work influenced her daughter, Haley McIntosh, who followed in her mother's footsteps as a patient caretaker in the hospital's ICU.
In October, Lovin passed away from a sudden, acute illness.
"It hit the hearts of everybody, not only in our intensive care unit and the peers that she worked with, but the hospital as well," said Baptist Health Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Mendy Blair.
In honor of Lovin's memory, her daughter and former colleagues established Missy's Shoes — a charity drive which collected shoes throughout the fall to give to children in need in Madison County.
"We all loved her. She had a huge enthusiasm and love of shoes. There wasn't a pair of shoes she wouldn't pass up and she really liked sneakers in particular," Blair explained.
On Wednesday, the shoes collected from Missy's Shoe drive at Baptist Health were donated to the Madison County School System's Family Resource and Youth Service Center.
In total, the hospital collected 101 pairs of shoes for kids in the county, which will be distributed through the school system's family resource centers.
Blair, McIntosh, and several other of Missy's friends and co-workers delivered a tall stack of crates to the school district's central office on Wednesday.
The collection took place over three weeks and all of the shoes donated came from employees at Baptist Health.
Deputy Superintendent Randy Neely said on Wednesday the shoe drive will certainly make an impact in the community.
"With 11,500 kids in the district, we've got a lot of kids that are needy. These shoes will be used, and the best part about it is, the smile that'll be on their faces. Some of these kids have never had a new pair of shoes. I wish some of these ladies, who put in the time and effort to get these shoes, could see their faces. Our youth service center guys and gals that are at every school will make sure that they go to kids that need them," Neely said.
For McIntosh in particular, it was a very emotional day which honored her mother's memory.
"She was a very feisty person. She was always on the go. She never met a stranger and would talk to anybody. She loved her job," McIntosh said.
