{"id":135587,"date":"2021-08-24T20:04:05","date_gmt":"2021-08-25T00:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/?p=135587"},"modified":"2021-08-24T20:04:05","modified_gmt":"2021-08-25T00:04:05","slug":"congratulations-to-the-2020-21-state-humanitarian-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/congratulations-to-the-2020-21-state-humanitarian-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Congratulations to the 2020- 21 STATE Humanitarian of the Year!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Jason with his Humanitarian Award from the Columbiettes at St. Joseph’s Church.<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0Millstone Valley\u00a0Columbiette\u2019s\u00a0from St. Joseph RC Church in Hillsborough recently nominated GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Hillsborough program participant Jason\u00a0Tyukody\u00a0for the\u00a02020-2021\u00a0State\u00a0Humanitarian Award. And guess what? HE WON!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In her letter nominating him, then-President Lisa Rossi\u00a0wrote..<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jason is a\u00a044 year old\u00a0with Down Syndrome.\u00a0 For more than 20 years, he has served as an altar server for St. Joseph\u2019s Church in Hillsborough, New Jersey.\u00a0 He is sure to keep our Fr. Hank Hilton on his toes with following the schedule, rules, etc., during mass and to not forget the birthday month people at the end of mass!\u00a0\u00a0 Not only does he serve the parish in this capacity,\u00a0he\u00a0also participates in many other activities.\u00a0 He cleans, prepares tables and serves food at the SAGES luncheons, the Veterans lunches\/events and at the parish picnics, where he can be counted on to spontaneously get the crowd laughing, singing along,\u00a0clapping\u00a0and swaying to his \u2018trademark\u2019 \u201cSweet Caroline\u201d!\u00a0\u00a0Shhhh\u2026 don\u2019t tell anyone, but he\u2019s been known to play Santa at the Knights of Columbus\u2019 pancake breakfasts!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jason and Father Hank at the weekly Saturday 4:45 PM Mass.<\/p><\/div>\n

When the Millstone Valley Knights of Columbus and the\u00a0Columbiettes\u00a0teamed together to bag groceries at the local Shop Rite to raise money for the Drive for People with Disabilities, Jason was there, and he took it upon himself to hand out chocolate kisses to the customers who donated money to the cause!\u00a0 In fact, this simple act of kindness brought in more donations!!\u00a0 It must be noted here that Jason has worked at ShopRite as a bagger for 20 years and the customers and staff all love him!\u00a0 In fact, his manager says that when customers see him, they will migrate over to his line, no matter how long of a wait it is because they know they can count on him to take special care in packaging and bagging their groceries as he would his own.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jason as Santa at the Playhouse.<\/p><\/div>\n

He is known to many around Hillsborough Township as \u201cThe Mayor.\u201d\u00a0 In fact, a past Mayor of the town was quoted as saying that he would not want to run against him!\u00a0 Not only does Jason have this reputation around our town, but he is also an\u00a0Ambassador, or a\/k\/a \u201cThe Mayor\u201d at GiGi\u2019s Playhouse, which is a Down Syndrome Achievement Center.\u00a0 Jason has learned and excelled in his studies there and is also extremely active at this Center, doing whatever they need him to do.\u00a0 When several New Jersey Catholic High Schools welcomed GiGi\u2019s into their schools to speak about Down Syndrome, Jason was well received by the students and staff members.\u00a0 Everyone wanted to talk to\/with him!\u00a0\u00a0 His family and friends can always be counted on to rally around \u201cTeam Jason\u201d to fundraise for the Playhouse and Jason is always happy and eager to get on stage behind a microphone to get an event crowd hyped up.\u00a0 In fact, his love of playing Santa really started here, and it has continued for many years.\u00a0 This year, their Christmas party was virtual, but that did not stop Jason, he still \u201cshowed up\u201d (albeit virtually!) as Santa!\u00a0 He is seen every year representing GiGi\u2019s Playhouse at the town\u2019s Memorial Day parade waving a flag, playing to the crowd, and putting a smile on so many faces!<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jason working hard at ShopRite.<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2018, Jason received the Corrine Ann Hanko Memorial Achievement Award in recognition of his dedication and involvement in Special Olympics. Jason has competed in Special Olympics in Somerset County in the track and field and bowling events for 35 years.\u00a0 He has medaled many times and he is as enthusiastic about cheering on others as he is about winning himself.\u00a0 Hence, his \u201cMayor\u201d status also applies here!\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jason is truly a \u201cspecial\u201d person.\u00a0 He has proven time and time again what a person with a disability can do to bring sunshine and happiness to others. In fact, the definition of a\u00a0humanitarian is a person who cares about people and participates in charity or does good work to show that care.\u00a0 Jason, with his contagious spirit and kind heart is a perfect candidate for this award and we appreciate your consideration.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jason further showed his greatness by donating a portion of his cash prize to the\u00a0Columbiettes\u00a0and to GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Hillsborough. Everyone at the Playhouse is proud of him and together we all celebrate Jason for his\u00a0accomplishment!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Millstone Valley\u00a0Columbiette\u2019s\u00a0from St. Joseph RC Church in Hillsborough recently nominated GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Hillsborough program participant Jason\u00a0Tyukody\u00a0for the\u00a02020-2021\u00a0State\u00a0Humanitarian Award. And guess what? HE WON!\u00a0\u00a0 In her letter nominating him, then-President Lisa Rossi\u00a0wrote..\u00a0 Jason is a\u00a044 year old\u00a0with Down Syndrome.\u00a0 For more than 20 years, he has served as an altar server for St. Joseph\u2019s Church in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpo365_audiences":[],"wpo365_private":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hillsborough\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}