Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 12-18-20

FLORIDA SENTINEL
OVER 75 YEARS SERVING TAMPA
SECTION FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020
B
Hospital Honors Generous Legacy Of Retired Employee
Delwyn Collins dressed as Santa each year to provide gifts to children in foster care that he never met.
2019 —- Last year proved to be the final year that Delwyn Collins would read letters from the foster children.
2018
2017
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
One longtime employee of Tampa General Hospital began a tradition more than 30 years ago.
He saved his own money and purchased Christmas gifts for children in foster care.
This year, Delwyn Collins will not be in atten- dance to deliver his gifts. He retired earlier this year due to health reasons. He now re- sides out of state with rela- tives.
However, his tradition lives on and his kindness will be reflected as his former co- workers keep his legacy
going. Ms. Ellen Fiss, spokesperson for Tampa Gen- eral Hospital said things were done differently this year be- cause of COVID-19. The do- nations were made online and the gifts will be distributed on Wednesday afternoon.
Once his co-workers real- ized that Collins had used his own money to purchase gifts that first year, the annual tradition began. Each year, employees would visit the decorative tree in the lobby of the hospital and select the name of a child. Then, they would purchase the gift re- quested and place it under the Christmas tree.
In 2019, the hospital do- nated between 500 and 800
2016
gifts.
During his tenure at the
hospital, Collins was a Kitchen Assistant. And, al- though he was disabled, and legally blind, he rode his bicy- cle to work. On many occa- sions, he took on a second job during the year to have the funding to continue giving back to the community.
Collins was raised by a single mom and had some health issues. But that never prevented him from prepar- ing the gifts for the children.
During the three decades of giving, Collins watched as the program expanded each year and became a tradition that everyone looked forward to.
Generosity Recognized
Collins’ desire to give back has not gone unnoticed. Collins has been named a
Tampa Bay Lightning Com- munity Hero. Being recog- nized in such a fashion allowed the Lightning to award $50,000 to the charity of his choice. Collins desig- nated the Point of Light char- ity as the recipient of the money.
Collins carried the Olympic Torch across Tampa Bay.
Collins has also been fea- tured in books by Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s son; a book by TV Reporter, Bobby Lewis, entitled Finding Joy behind the head-
2015
lines; and former WTVT An- chor Deanna Lawrence’s book.
Among his other accom- plishments, Collins has been featured in Forbes Maga- zine and Reader’s Digest.
A spokesperson for the hospital said his co-workers love him so much that they sent him on an all expense paid vacation to Disney World. And when his bicycle was stolen on two different occasions, they purchased him new bicycles.
In the past, Collins would begin again preparing for the next year. However, since his retirement, someone else is bound to keep the tradition going as a legacy to Collins.