National Volunteer Week – Kim Riley-Adams & Val Kestner

April 22, 2020
By: Julie Peterson

It’s Day 3 of National Volunteer Week! CHI is very grateful to have such amazing people who have traveled to Haiti, often more than once, for a medical or surgical clinic. Each day this week we will feature one of our dedicated volunteers.

Meet VAL KESTNER (left) & KIM RILEY-ADAMS (right)

Val Kestner and Kim Riley-Adams met in October 2016 when they both went on their very first trip to Haiti with CHI. Since then, they have both traveled to Haiti more than five times each and are scheduled to be clinic co-leaders for the October 2020 trip. 

Val is a pediatric emergency physician from Kansas who goes to Haiti every opportunity she gets. As a former member of CHI's clinic committee, she is focused on how to make the clinics Haitian run so that CHI is a constant presence in the community beyond just the big clinic weeks. She always enjoys her time in clinic and relishes the friendships she has made through CHI, both with Haitian staff and other US volunteers. Val currently serves on CHI's board of directors. 

Kim, a director of laboratory services for a large healthcare network in Iowa, decided a trip to Haiti would be a great way to push herself out of her comfort zone while helping others. From her first day in Haiti, Kim fell in love with the country and its people. She is committed to helping CHI's Haitian partners become more self-sufficient in providing healthcare and clean water to the communities they serve. Stateside, Kim chaired the 360 Fundraiser in 2017 and currently serves on the fundraising committee.

Together, Kim and Val are kind, quick to laugh, and make clinic fun. Today we honor Val and Kim, they are an amazing duo! We’re so thankful to have them and their continued supporter of our work in Haiti!