Walking through the front door at Clark Regional Medical Center, the first faces to greet visitors and patients are likely those of volunteers staffing the front desk. One those volunteers is Earl Ferguson.

“I just enjoy helping people,” Ferguson, a three-year volunteer, said. “It’s good for me. I get to get out and meet people.”

Part of it is being able to take care of patients and their relatives, whether pointing them in the right direction or just being a friendly face..

“I’ll make you coffee and make you comfortable,” he said. “(Most people) are not wanting to be here in the first place. I just try to make them comfortable.”

Ferguson, a native of Van Lear in Johnson County, started volunteering at CRMC in 2014, about six months after retiring from East Kentucky Power Cooperative following a 41-year career.

Ferguson said he came to Winchester in 1973 because he didn’t want to work in the coal mines in Johnson County. He spent the next four decades working at Dale Station and Smith Station making electricity.

When he retired, Ferguson said he was looking for a litle something to do.

“A friend of mine volunteers here also,” he said. “He talked me into volunteering here, too.”

Ferguson said he usually volunteers one or two days a week at CRMC, depending on need. He also volunteers at the community center delivering commodities.

“I like to think it’s making a difference in someone’s life,” he said of volunteering at the hospital. “Sometimes it’s not much, just being a smiling face to someone who’s sick or down.”