GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Each month we cycle through our spotlight categories of first responders, veterans, and healthcare. This month we're shining a light on an organization that has done it's own work recognizing and honoring members of their own field of nursing.
This month's Fox 17 Spotlight Award winner is the Grand Rapids Area Nurse Honor Guard.
In 2019, Julie Trasky and Martha Brooks honored a nurse who had passed away.
"We did our very first service and tribute at a small cemetery," Trasky explained.
Their organization has since grown to 38 volunteers. They have now attended at least 31 funerals or celebrations of life for nurses.
Similar to a veteran's honor guard, they make sure the nurse who passed gets the recognition they deserve.
The tributes involve lighting a lamp, placing a rose on the casket, and reading a tribute by name.
"Most nurses have a passion in their heart for what we do, and so when we are available to attend these we step forward," Trasky said.
Brooks added, "You really feel privileged to be able to acknowledge a colleague's commitment to nursing."
They say people appreciate the old school traditional uniform. It's also a blast from the past for some of the volunteers who wore similar uniforms.
For many of them it's a way to stay involved in a career they spent decades dedicated to and to let others know their service has not gone unrecognized.
"It's personal. It's very personal," Sandy Miessner shared. "So when we honor other nurses, I feel like we're really giving to our to our profession."
Know someone who should be our next Pay It Forward Spotlight Award winner? Nominate them here.
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube