Employee at Beth Sholom honored for years of dedicated service

HENRICO, Va. (WWBT) - At Beth Sholom Senior Living, Pat Hancock is the glue that keeps it all together.

As the admissions director, she’s the first point of contact for visiting families, giving tours, and answering questions about the facility.

“You won’t meet a finer, kinder person, more giving than Pat Hancock,” CEO of Beth Sholom Senior Living Morris Funk said.

“There are gifts that people are given in life, and my gift has been to care about people,” said Hancock.

Dierdre Arnowitz retired from Beth Sholom and spent years working alongside Pat, witnessing her daily contribution to the spirit of humanity.

“She embodies the act of kindness every single day - every moment of every day. She is so caring and deeply committed to making people feel comfortable, getting all the information that is necessary, and she just is by everyone’s side all the time,” said Arnowitz.

Arnowitz surprised her friend with $300 and a $50 gift card to Mexico Restaurant as part of the NBC12′s Acts of Kindness award. Pat was beaming from ear to ear.

“I would love to retire sometime soon, but right now, I don’t think it would be good for me to retire. Different people have talked to me about it, but I am a person that likes to stay busy,” said Hancock.

But she’s got more smiles, more hugs, and more love to give.

“I just like for everybody to know how grateful I am for this. This is just an honor. It’s an honor for me to be here at Beth Sholom. It’s an honor for me to have all these friends and people that I’m around every day,” said Hancock.

As for her reward, Pat says she has a couple of ideas.

“Well, I know I would love to go to Virginia Beach, but that’s not going to happen. I really don’t know what I’m going to do with it. I may share it with some people. I have a son that has a birthday next week, so that will take him out to eat.”

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