Williamsburg nurse wins free kitchen makeover.
Kristin Reid
Nurse Kristin Reid is overcome with emotion after learning she won the kitchen of her dreams.
Nurse Kristin Reid treats patients like family as part of her daily routine at Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg. She never imagined that exceling at her job would lead to the kitchen of her dreams — for free.
Reid is the inaugural recipient of the “Cabinets for a Cause” award, a promotion launched by a Toano cabinet manufacturer last spring.
Friends, family, and colleagues surprise Kristin Reid with the information that she won the new kitchen.
Prestige Cabinets owner Doug Hogue and his wife, Terrah, wanted a way to give back to a community that supported them in growing their business. They devised an honor to reward a deserving member of the surrounding community with a free kitchen makeover.
In appreciation of the sacrifices made by health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, they solicited nominations of nurses, environmental service members and lab technicians from Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg and Sentara Regional Medical Center.
Among 60 nominations, Reid received the most with 18. Peers, friends and family members lauded her personalized approach in caring for patients in the hospital’s medical-surgical unit.
“She has all the characteristics of someone you would want in that position,” Doug Hogue said.
A Sept. 8, 2020 congratulatory ceremony planned by the Hogues with team members from the hospital caught Reid off guard. The Middlesex resident walked outdoors with a colleague and suddenly found herself amidst a celebration.
“Did I win?” Reid shrieked.
“After that, I feel like I blacked out,” she said. “I was so shocked. I started to cry.”
The farmhouse kitchen that dominates her Pinterest feed will now become real, full of ample granite countertops and a deep sink to better can and pickle vegetables from her garden. The mother of two toddlers, who enjoys baking, looks forward to a double oven with warming trays.
Reid and husband John will sit down with a design team that includes the Hogues and other area businesses that will donate their time and labor to the project. They will overhaul everything from fixtures to appliances to what kind of back splash Reid wants over a farmhouse sink that will make canning and pickling so much easier.
“At the end of the day, her kitchen is going to look like one from a magazine,” promised Hogue, who is eyeing a completion date that would allow Reid to prepare Thanksgiving dinner inside her new space.
Reid, 34, doesn’t consider herself a local hero. She grew up determined to be a nurse, always offering comfort to any friend who suffered even the slightest scrape. The graduate of Riverside College of Health Careers has worked at Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg since December. Her previous experience includes five years at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News.
“I really like to get to know the patient and make them feel comfortable,” she said. “I work hard to make sure my patient feels like family to me. When I come into a room, I imagine my grandmother or my mom or my sister is there and how I would want them to be treated.”
Prestige Cabinets plans to make Cabinets for a Cause an annual award that recognizes a member of the service sector.
“It’s such a positive ending to a tragic year,” Reid said. “I will enjoy this kitchen for many years to come.”
RiversideOnline.com, Sentara.com/Williamsburg, PrestigeCabinets.com
