In about two weeks, Kevin Kirby, the Warren County Coroner and co-owner of the J.C. Kirby & Son Funeral Chapels and Crematory, will be recognized for his contributions to the nonprofit Hospice of Southern Kentucky.

“If there has ever been anyone that has deserved this award, it would be Kevin Kirby,” said Cate Sanders, the hospice’s marketing and public relations manager.

On Sept. 14, the hospice will recognize Kirby with its Lotus Award at its fourth annual awards gala. Tickets for the gala, which will be held at the Sloan Convention Center, start at $85 and go to patient care, Sanders said.

Kirby, she said, deserves the award because he also supports the community outside of the hospice.

For 15 years, Kirby has held weekly car shows with a 50/50-raffle along with other events that fundraise for the hospice and other benefactors – raising some $1.2 million. Half goes to the winner, while the other half goes toward the hospice, the Juvenile Diabetic Research Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Association and the Kelly Autism Center, Kirby said.

In the last two years alone, Kirby has held fundraisers that have donated more than $85,000 to the hospice, Sanders said.

“It’s an honor to be selected, but it’s also just not me – it’s all the people that help me on a weekly basis … we do a lot of work, and these are all volunteers that help me,” he said. “You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with … and I’ve been blessed to be surrounded with the same group of people basically for the last 15 years doing this.”

The hospice provides end-of-life services to patients and supports families through a host of services. Among them, it offers medical services, medicine, medical supplies, bereavement for up to 13 months for families, social work and spiritual care, Sanders said.

“We believe that everyone – no matter their ability to pay, who they are, or where they’re from – deserves comfort, dignity and end-of-life support,” she said.

Sanders joined the staff after they took care of her father, Jim Harmon, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2019 and told he had 30 days to live.

Harmon had struggled for a couple years undiagnosed as he became unable to speak. He’d use one finger to type out his needs on the phone; Sanders and her mom became increasingly able to interpret his grunts and groans.

But things looked up when he got into hospice.

“It was like the light was in his eyes again – he was comfortable, he felt confident again, he knew he had support and help, he knew us as the family could call anytime,” she said. “He was smiling – he was happy. He had his personality back.”

Harmon lived another 255 days and passed in April 2020.

“They supported not only my dad but my family as well,” she said. “And I give all the credit to all the time we got to spend with my dad to Hospice of Southern Kentucky.”

The event release recommends “elegant evening attire.” Tickets are at https://hospicesoky.org/lotus-award-gala/