FOR A GOOD CAUSE -- Bev Cox

40,500 hours.

The equivalent of almost five years is what Bev Cox has actually spent

as a volunteer at Hoag Hospital over the last 34 years.

Cox, 80, moved to Corona del Mar in 1965. Ever since, she has raised

close to $2 million for the Hoag Foundation, was instrumental in starting

an information desk in the main hospital and literally went to every

street in the city to find patrons and donors.

“I’ve stuffed thousands of envelopes here,� Cox said with a laugh.

“This is like my home.�

Cox moved to Tustin four years ago and tried to volunteer at Western

Medical Center in Santa Ana. But she did not feel quite comfortable

there. So she came back to Hoag and now takes the Access bus service

provided by the Orange County Transportation Authority to get to Newport

Beach at least once a week.

Cox has preserved the memories of her volunteer work in a scrapbook

about 4 inches thick. In it are photographs of fund-raisers from the

‘60s, newspaper clippings of events, columns written about her and even

copies of invitations for various fund-raising events she organized.

“It’s all about helping one another,� she says. “And I love helping

others.�

Cox said she has met several interesting people during her time as a

volunteer. One of them, John Wayne.

“He was visiting somebody at the hospital once,� she recalled. “And he

wanted to take his little boys upstairs. I told him, ‘Well, they’re not

old enough.’ And he says, ‘If I put both their ages together, isn’t that

good enough?�’

Cox added with a laugh: “I told him ‘no.�’

She said the hospital will be her favorite place as long as she lives

and that she will continue to volunteer there for as long as she can.

“I’m 80 years old,� she said shaking her head. “I’m blind in one eye

and [partially] deaf in both ears. But I can still get up and walk

around.�

-- Story by Deepa Bharath; photo by [tk]