The New England Patriots Foundation and the Kraft Family presented Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice (CVHHH) volunteer Sue Zekas with the 2025 Myra Kraft Community MVP Award and $10,000 to CVHHH at a ceremony at Gillette Stadium on June 3. Sue is one of 26 volunteers out of nearly 300 nominees across New England to be chosen for this award.
“I am honored and humbled to be selected for this award. I am also very grateful that the organization I am so passionate about has received this generous grant,” Sue says.
Hospice is a program of care for people who are terminally ill and nearing the end of life. The goal is to help individuals who have chosen to stop curative treatments achieve the highest-possible quality of life, even as death nears. Sue has volunteered with our Hospice program since 2019, logging more than 350 hours to date.
Volunteers in the Hospice program at CVHHH complete extensive training before they meet with patients, and are considered a key part of their interdisciplinary care team. Sue supports multiple individuals and families at once in their homes and in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. This role requires her to be flexible and attuned to the needs of the patient and their loved ones, and provide support in a variety of ways, including reading books or going on walks with a patient, tidying up, or sitting vigil to relieve their primary caregivers.
“Offering support and respite to provide our patients and families dignity and ensuring they don’t feel alone through this difficult time is an honor,” says Sue. “To provide dignity and empathy to our fellow human beings hopefully gives light, love, and peace to our world. This is what hospice does, and to be part of this means so much to me.”
Discomfort around the processes of death and dying can lead to misconceptions about what hospice is and may discourage people from taking advantage of their Medicare hospice benefit. Vermont has the fourth highest population of older adults in the nation, yet ranks 40th in hospice utilization. Sue’s commitment to this work helps promote the program in Central Vermont and provide key education on its benefits.
“At CVHHH, visiting a patient in their home is a privilege. Employees and volunteers alike are part of CVHHH’s incredible team,” says Sandy Rousse, CVHHH President and CEO. “Receiving this award in recognition of the commitment a hospice volunteer makes to patients and families at end of life is an honor, and we are thankful to be able to support the needs of future hospice patients and families with this funding.”
Thank you to Sue for her outstanding service and dedication to the community, and for giving patients and their families time to focus on what matters most.