{"id":142240,"date":"2025-08-08T16:11:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T21:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/?p=142240"},"modified":"2025-08-08T16:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T21:12:08","slug":"volunteer-spotlight-meet-mary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/uncategorized\/volunteer-spotlight-meet-mary","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer Spotlight: Meet Mary!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/files\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-4-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/files\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-4-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-142242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/files\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-4-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/files\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-4-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/files\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-4-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/files\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-4-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/files\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-4-1.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Hoffman Estates, our volunteers are the heartbeat of everything we do. This month, we\u2019re thrilled to shine the spotlight on one of our incredible volunteers, <strong>Mary<\/strong>!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While this is <strong>Mary\u2019s first time serving as a literacy tutor<\/strong>, she\u2019s certainly no stranger to the GiGi\u2019s community. For over a year, Mary has been a dedicated volunteer in our <strong>GiGi\u2019s Kitchen and LMNOP programs<\/strong>, where her kindness, patience, and love for helping others have truly stood out.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the opportunity came to try something new and become a tutor, Mary admits she felt a bit hesitant. But, as we often say at GiGi\u2019s, growth happens when we step outside our comfort zones\u2014and Mary has done just that, with <strong>remarkable heart and impact<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This summer, Mary was paired with her student, <strong>Tamir<\/strong>, and the two have built something really special. Through their weekly literacy sessions, they\u2019ve not only made <strong>amazing academic progress<\/strong>, but they&#8217;ve also developed a strong and supportive relationship that speaks volumes about the power of connection, encouragement, and believing in one another.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;No matter what day I&#8217;m there volunteering, whether it&#8217;s LMNOP, Adult Kitchen, or tutoring, everyone is so happy and that makes me happy if I can help in any small way to their success.&#8221;-Mary H.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their journey is a reminder of how <strong>volunteering changes lives on both sides<\/strong>\u2014not only helping our participants reach their goals, but also offering volunteers the chance to grow, connect, and be part of something truly meaningful.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Interested in giving back and making a difference?? Volunteer as a math or literacy tutor! Click <a href=\"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.tfaforms.net\/4719698?tfa_2875=a4z50000002e7NGAAY&amp;tfa_2903=&amp;tfa_3013=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE <\/a>to apply to be a tutor for our upcoming session! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Hoffman Estates, our volunteers are the heartbeat of everything we do. This month, we\u2019re thrilled to shine the spotlight on one of our incredible volunteers, Mary!&nbsp; While this is Mary\u2019s first time serving as a literacy tutor, she\u2019s certainly no stranger to the GiGi\u2019s community. For over a year, Mary has been&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25306,"featured_media":142241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpo365_audiences":[],"wpo365_private":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[111,52,33,22,23,64],"class_list":["post-142240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-freeprograms","tag-gigisbelieves","tag-best-of-all","tag-down-syndrome","tag-gigis-playhouse","tag-tutoring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25306"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}