Valet service returns to KSB Commerce Towers thanks to volunteers

DIXON – Valet service returned to KSB Commerce Towers on Monday with volunteers helping patients with their vehicles.

Jeff Kuhn said he volunteered himself and his wife, Jeanne, after seeing a man struggling to get out of car. Jeff assisted that man, but it got him thinking about the importance of the valet service.

“There’s a lot of people who can’t do it for themselves,” he said. “About that same time, John Varga called me and said, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about trying to get this started up.’ I said, ‘I’m all for it. It’s a big need.’”

The valet is available from 7:30 a.m. to noon Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, KSB Chief of Staff Nancy Varga said in a previous interview. Those hours were chosen based on input from providers, who reported those to be their busiest hours.

The valet service was shut down as a cost-saving measure, but after the push-back from community members, patients and providers, they wanted to do something, Varga said.

Mike Nicklaus used to be a paid valet for KSB and agreed to come back as a volunteer.

“I don’t mind helping people,” Nicklaus said. “There’s a lot of people out there in bad shape, so I told them I would help, and here I am.”

As of 10:45 a.m. Monday, they’d parked about 10 vehicles, Jeanne Kuhn said. The three of them had helped even more people in and out of their vehicles, and gone to pick up cars they hadn’t parked for people who hadn’t known the valet service was available, she said.

The response was “very positive,” Jeanne Kuhn said. “An awful lot of, ‘Thank you very much for doing this. They’re happy to see the service back.”

The Kuhns, who signed up to provide valet service on Mondays, did not previously work as valets for KSB.

“So far, it’s been very rewarding,” Jeff Kuhn said. “A lot of people have thanked us for finally bringing it back. We have nothing to do with that, but it’s just something that’s really needed.”

The valet service is free, but gratitudes certainly are accepted, and will go to the KSB Foundation, Varga said.

If interested in volunteering, contact KSB Volunteer Coordinator Aaron Fox at 815-285-5836, or visit ksbhospital.com/volunteers.