ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A heart for service and a four legged partner spreading joy. Bringing comfort to patients at AdventHealth East Orlando, one room and one smile at a time. The former hospital patient keeps coming back because he knows firsthand just how special the comfort of a therapy dog can be.

The moment Jack Beckett and therapy dog Hunter set foot inside AdventHealth East Orlando they are greeted like rockstars. The star being Hunter, a regular around the hospital, helping put a smile on faces, whether it’s staff members or patients.

“Outside of being married to my wife, this is the most important and rewarding thing I do,” Beckett said.

And that’s coming from a military veteran. Beckett has been volunteering at the hospital for about four years. He says he knows firsthand what patients experience and enjoys making people happy by way of Hunter.

“It’s, you know, you’re seeing people at their worst…I’ve been a patient…I’ve been a patient in this hospital, and it’s awesome, but no matter how awesome the doctors and nurses and caregivers are, there’s still something missing,” Beckett said.

That is where Hunter comes in, visiting with patients like Amy Harrington Elo who couldn’t get enough of his charm.

“Having him come in and be sort of interactive and warm and sweet, it’s really nice, kind of adds some leverage to being in the hospital experience,” Harrington Elo said.

“There’s nobody that sees Jack and Hunter coming that doesn’t get a smile on their face,” said Caitlin Lewis, CEO of AdventHealth East Orlando.

Lewis has known both Hunter and Jack for some time now and is grateful for them both and all they do within the hospital community.

“We love our volunteers. We see them as an extension of our team. We could not do the work that we get to do without them. They very much are an extension that allow us to continue to extend the healing ministry of Christ, but to be able to have that ministry go across the entire campus. And we wouldn’t be able to do that without our volunteers, Hunter included,” Lewis said.

This volunteer duo plans to keep spreading joy one paw and one patient at a time.