DEVONY DUHE

We live in a society that considers its older citizens to be less than productive and sometimes even useless. These people have worked, raised families and given to their respective communities. These retired residents are thought to simply sit back and watch the world go by while enjoying the company of their grandchildren. Some also see them jet setting around the world spending all the hard-earned money they have saved for years.

Devony Duhe has, in fact, been playing with children and flying off to far away lands since her retirement, but she has been anything but useless. Duhe has become a personal hero to the team at Humanity United in Giving (HUG) International, Inc. This organization is based in Richardson, Texas and serves children around the world who are victims of poverty and war. She has worked with HUG since 1997, and during that time she has set a precedent with her service and generous spirit. She is a vital caring woman who gives completely and unconditionally of her time, heart, energy and money.

After being a member of a HUG Service Team in July of 1997 to Slatina, Romania, Duhe fell in love with the orphans living there. Since that time, she has stayed connected to the children and their cause by donating more than 3,000 hours answering correspondence, packing and shipping supplies, and raising money to enable their work to continue. She has also traveled back to Slatina on two occasions as a HUG Service Team Leader.

Duhe has the extraordinary ability to look at the environment in which the children are living and see immediately what can be done to make it better. She has personally helped to finance new plumbing lines for the orphanage and fuel for heat last winter. In addition, Duhe has provided funds for fruit and milk for the children’s meals. She even provided for pest control to exterminate the roaches in the orphanage during the summer.

Devony Duhe has longed to make a difference all her life. She now knows she is doing just that. The children she assists in Romania along with the staff she works along side daily see her example. She was honored as the 1999 Collin County Volunteer of the Year because of her outstanding contribution to children all over the world.