Our QDR Hometown Hero of this week is Mackenzie Koonts, a Nurse in Raleigh.

Mackenzie was nominated by her husband Jordan, who says, “Mackenzie is my high school sweetheart. After meeting at Apex High School, we both went off to ECU together (go pirates)! This past year and we tied the knot after over six years of dating. At that time, she graduated from ECU’s nursing school and accepted a job at Rex Hospital in Raleigh. Almost as soon as she started work, Covid swept the nation. For her entire two years of working, her floor has been a covered unit at racks. Despite all the tragedies and hardships she has seen, she puts on a happy face and goes into work ready to go above and beyond for her patients and their families. For the past year, she has picked up extra shifts every week to help with staffing shortages. All of this while I am still in school. Everything she does is selfless and focused on providing for others. As Covid numbers have thankfully seemed to be training down, she is finally getting a sense of normalcy that she has never known at her job. I have never seen someone attack such a monumental challenge head-on and conquer it the way she has, and at only 24 years old. For what she has done and continues to do, she will always be my hero.”

Thank you, Mackenzie, for your service! As a token of our appreciation, we’re sending you a gift card to Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q to thank you for all you do!

Want to nominate a Hometown Hero?