Bethesda, MD (April 13, 2011) –  The first annual Hollins Distinguished Volunteer Services Award was presented to Suburban Hospital volunteer Elizabeth McCordic of Potomac, Md, at the Annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon held in Bethesda on March 11, 2011.

The award was created and endowed by a generous donation from Leon and Carol Hollins, also of Potomac, Md, in honor of their daughter Dr. Dawn L. Hollins, who passed away at the age of 33 from a rare form of leukemia.  A former candy striper at Suburban Hospital, Dr. Hollins pursued a career in medicine in part due to her motivating experience at Suburban.  Throughout her life, she was committed to volunteering and helping others and lived by the mantra “I will,” according to her father. 

Mrs. McCordic was selected by a committee of staff representatives of Suburban and members of the Hollins family because of her “extraordinary personal and unselfish dedication to serving the hospital and advancing its welfare.”  A volunteer at Suburban since 2006, it is her responsibility to manage the mobile book cart that provides books, magazines, and other reading material to patients in the hospital.  Mrs. McCordic is extremely dedicated and resourceful, scouring doctor’s offices, hair salons, neighbor’s homes, and anywhere else she can to find reading materials to stock her cart with a very limited budget. 

As Leon Hollins said when he presented her with the award, “What better place to embrace my daughter’s legacy and emboss her spirit; what better place to pass her torch of always willing to give her best…than Suburban Hospital’s Office of Volunteer Services.   It’s our family’s belief that our daughter’s spirit will shine by the reflected light of all of its volunteers.”

About Suburban Hospital

Suburban Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, is a not-for-profit, community-based hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, that has served Montgomery County and the surrounding area for more than 65 years. Suburban Hospital is distinguished by a cutting-edge stroke program; level II trauma center; centers of excellence in cardiac care, orthopedics and joint replacement surgery, neurosciences and oncology; state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment tools; and affiliations with world-class institutions, including the neighboring National Institutes of Health.