2022 October Volunteer of the Month Hudson J.

We are happy to introduce Hudson J. our newest Volunteer of the Month.  Hudson has been a loyal and dedicated delivery driver for Carry-Out Caravan since December 2020.  He has been extremely reliable throughout the pandemic, making sure the clients in his route get their groceries.  He has been wonderful at fostering friendships with clients and will often offer to pick up additional delivery routes when needed.

Hudson was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia and graduated from the University of Richmond with a degree in Industrial Management.  Married, and now with a daughter, he began his career working for Tenneco at Newport New Shipbuilding. During his time there, he supervised crews installing equipment on the then-under construction USS Nimitz aircraft carrier along with various nuclear submarines.

But, the Colorado Rocky Mountains were calling and, in 1973, he moved to Denver and began working for American Express as a financial analyst in their Money Orders Division.  Hudson was then recruited by Reynolds Aluminum and moved to the west coast where he worked in sales and customer service management.  After several west coast relocations with Reynolds, in 1980, he was assigned to the Midwest sales region and worked as the Regional Manager in the Chicago office.  Chicago also saw the birth of his second child!

In 1983, Hudson moved back to Colorado and worked as the Director of Customer and Sales Services at Valleylab, a surgical products manufacturing and sales company.  At that time it was owned by Pfizer, but now it’s a division of Medtronic.   He worked there for 13 years, traveling extensively opening distribution centers in the U.S. and in Europe working with local country offices.  He also opened the first European central distribution center in Brussels (at the Pfizer warehouse).  While at Valleylab (and now single!) he met his second wife, Kerry. They have now been married for 22 years.  After Valleylab, Hudson worked at Fisher Imaging, a small medical products company that focused on digital mammography and breast biopsy medical devices. At Fischer Imaging he managed several customer and field service support departments.  While working there, he saw a need for breast biopsy medical supplies and kits that were not currently offered in the hospital and Mammography center environment.  In 2005, he and a partner founded their own company to develop, manufacture and distribute various specialty breast biopsy products for MRI, Ultrasound and Stereotactic biopsy medical procedures.  He says he was lucky to identify the opportunity to successfully design and produce the products for this niche medical market and have the perfect partner to pull it off!  Hudson said that he thought their business would only have a seven to ten year run due to the constant changes in medical device technology, but with new product additions and ongoing modifications to the existing product line it is still thriving today, seventeen years later. They were fortunate to sell the company in 2020!

Prior to the pandemic, Hudson and his wife did a lot of traveling and trekking.  They have done hiking treks in Patagonia, Switzerland, Norway and the Dolomites in Italy.  Hudson is an early bird and walks every morning. He also enjoys cross country skiing, snowshoeing, biking, gardening and his grandchildren!

Even though Hudson is too humble to admit it, we would describe him as "selfless and giving."  He is a silent but sensitive individual who goes above and beyond the call of duty in helping others.  In addition to volunteering for Cultivate, Hudson was a Big Brother to his matched Little Brother from 9 years old through his high school years.  They are still in contact today, 18 years later.  He also volunteers weekly at Community Food Share.  He says what he likes most about being a delivery driver for Cultivate are the smiles on our clients faces when he drops off their orders every week.  Hudson really enjoys connecting with the clients and how satisfying it is to serve a purpose for the better good.

Thank you, Hudson, for being such a dedicated driver for Carry-Out Caravan.  Your dependability and willingness to take on additional routes when needed are so appreciated!  We are so lucky to have you as a part of our team and thank you for being the smiling face of Cultivate when delivering groceries every week!