GULF SHORES, Ala. – An emotional Robyn Cobb addressed a group of business leaders at LuLu’s Restaurant on May 3 with a story to tell about the good deeds they had done.

Cobb, who works with SouthernCare Hospice’s Clanton office was speaking as one her company’s patients and her family were coming into town for a final beach weekend.

“We take care of the terminally ill patient and their families,” she said. “We try to go above and beyond just taking care of their physical, emotional and mental needs. We try to grant last wishes.”

And one of those wishes brought her to Gulf Shores to address the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce’s First Friday Forum.

“Her last wish was to take her children back to the beach one more time,” Cobb said. “Me being 225 miles north of here your area has stepped up and stepped out with helping us grant a last wish to a 44-year-old terminal breast cancer patient. She has three children, 25, 23, and a 12-year-old.”

A private individual donated a condo for Tina Brown of Prattville and five other members of her family for the May 3-6 weekend. And other businesses stepped in to make sure the family had a great weekend.

“It has been phenomenal what this area has done,” she said. “I’m here today to give you a thank-you, but I want to tell you what all you’ve done.

“But here in this area I have to give kudos, a big shout-out to LuLu’s. You have gone above and beyond. Family meals, there are six of them coming and you have covered their meals.”

Others contributing included Kitty’s Café providing breakfast for the family each day they were here. Also contributing were Island Ice Cream, Papa Rocco’s, Sea ‘n’ Suds, Lambert’s, The Hangout, The Original Oyster House, The Gulf Coast Zoo, Build a Bear and a family dolphin cruise.

The ladies at Orange Beach Baptist Church, Cobb said, also provided amenities for the family.

Remembrances of the trip were also donated by the Hot Shop glass-blowing studio at the Coastal Art9 Center of Orange Beach.

“This family is elated,” Cobb said. “They are so excited to come here and spend the last vacation they are going to have together.”

Chamber Chairman Kevin Corcoran thanked Cobb and associated Greg Bedsole of SouthernCare’s Daphne office for their efforts.

“God bless you Robyn and Greg for what you do every day for people and bringing dignity at the end of life,” Corcoran said. “I know that everybody here is teary-eyed, but nobody is surprised. That is just the fabric of this great community. That’s what happens when we see somebody in need.”

Corcoran also pointed out how he felt the residents and business community were blessed to live in a place where others seek to come with last wishes.

“Sometimes we take it for granted and it takes a story like that to realize when somebody has one wish left and they choose to be where we are every single day of our lives,” he said.

Cobb presented a plaque to the chamber that in part read: It is with immense gratitude that SouthernCare Hospice, Clanton, Ala., recognizes the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce and for kindness of your great community.

Chamber President and CEO Ed Rodriguez said the donations are typical of the businesses in the Alabama Gulf Coast area.

“This sense of caring is evident in so many ways year-round, but it's especially nice when people from out of town notice it enough to recognize our businesses for it,” Rodriguez said. “This speaks highly of the sense of the community, the spirit of generosity and the commitment to helping others that our community has seen in both good times and bad.”