For Garth Gabriel and his team, service isn’t just promoted at Kettering Health (KH).
“It’s something we live,” said Gabriel, regional HR director at KH. “At Kettering Health, service extends far beyond the walls of our hospitals.”
Gabriel and a team of 14 Kettering Health HR leader partners volunteered at Good Neighbor House in late January. The visit served as a team-building holiday activity and an opportunity to support the organization’s efforts to provide food and essential resources to individuals and families across the Dayton community.
“As HR professionals in healthcare, we serve the caregivers who serve patients,” Gabriel said. “Volunteering is simply an extension of that calling.”
Good Neighbor House, a Dayton nonprofit with a run of 30 years, provides food assistance and medical services for uninsured individuals. Its mission, empowering healthier communities by fostering the physical, emotional, and spiritual well‑being of neighbors, guides its daily work serving hundreds of clients each week. The organization has a strong partnership with KH, whose mission is to live God’s love by promoting and restoring health.
During the volunteer event, HR leader partners worked within the pantry’s systemized packing process, assembling an estimated 200 food bags and boxes tailored to different household sizes. The team also helped clean and organize storage areas and wiped down equipment.
DD Davis, assistant to the pantry director and AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), worked closely with the volunteers during their visit.
“They worked so fast and so hard that I had to stop them,” Davis said. “We had no more room for the bags and boxes they were making.”
She noted that the team’s effort had a direct operational impact.
“When we have someone come in and give that much tenacity and go above for us, it really helps us with the next week’s clientele.”
Good Neighbor House typically serves 170 to 210 clients per day, making volunteer support essential to sustaining weekly demand. For Davis, the work is personal.
“I was a Good Neighbor House client before working here,” she said. “Being on both sides of the door, I know the strength this place brings to the community.”
The collaboration between KH and Good Neighbor House continues to reflect shared commitments to compassion, community service, and whole-person care.
Gabriel said the time together also strengthened connections across HR teams.
“We had some new team members, and, because we don’t see each other often, it was a good time to catch up and spend time together doing something meaningful for the community.”
He added that the experience demonstrated the behaviors KH strives to cultivate.
“Culture doesn’t live in policies. It lives in behaviors. When our leader partners step into the community together, we reinforce what service, teamwork, and humility look like.”
