At Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, the man parking cars has become something more than a valet to the patients who pass through his line. Jon Avery is credited with helping cancer patients fight their battles with the disease, offering encouragement to people navigating some of the hardest days of their lives.
Avery works as a valet at the cancer center, according to a report from CBS News, and he has made supporting patients part of his role at Roswell Park. One of those patients is Kate Fink, a 41-year-old breast cancer survivor who credits her recovery in part to the encouragement Avery gave her. Fink has said Avery made an impact on her and on many other people who came through Roswell Park during treatment.
Avery encouraged Fink to keep pushing during her fight, and that support stuck with her long after she finished treatment. Wanting to do something nice for him in return, Fink and her colleagues at West Herr Automotive Group raised money for Avery. The group also obtained Buffalo Bills game tickets and field passes so Avery, who had planned to attend a Bills game, could go.
A Valet Who Sees His Job as a Calling
Avery has described having a goal of creating meaningful encounters with the patients he meets while parking their cars, and he has said he considers himself an exception to the rule among people in his line of work. He has also said he serves people and can live in service, framing his job less as a transaction and more as a mission tied to the patients who pass through Roswell Park's doors every day.
The story was reported by Steve Hartman as part of his On the Road series for CBS News, a recurring feature that profiles everyday acts of kindness across the country. Fink's own background adds another layer to the story: according to West Herr, she joined the dealership group as a service advisor for its Chevrolet Williamsville location, bringing 15 years of automotive experience to the job before she and her colleagues organized their gesture for Avery.
Formal Support Systems Exist Alongside Informal Kindness
Avery's role as an informal source of encouragement exists alongside the structured support services Roswell Park already offers patients and families. Per Roswell Park's own description of its programs, the cancer center provides an array of services and resources addressing physical, emotional, practical, spiritual and social needs. That includes the 11 Day Power Play Cancer Resource Center, a space where patients and families can gather information, support, assistance and resources and materials.
The cancer center also runs a free Cancer Coach Program that matches patients with survivor coaches based on diagnosis, cancer type, stage, age and gender, according to Roswell Park. Patient advocates at the center are described as playing a vital role helping patients and families navigate care-coordination and communication problems during treatment.
Those formal resources underscore why a figure like Avery resonates with patients navigating a system that can otherwise feel overwhelming. The National Cancer Institute notes that even caregivers supporting someone through cancer may face their own physical and emotional strain, a reminder of how much weight falls on everyone surrounding a patient's fight, not just the patient alone.
For Fink, the gesture from her and her West Herr colleagues was a way of returning the encouragement Avery gave her when she needed it most. It is a small story out of one Buffalo parking lot, but one that speaks to how connection, found in unexpected places, can shape a patient's path through cancer treatment.
