{"id":141711,"date":"2023-04-22T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/?p=141711"},"modified":"2025-09-19T15:51:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T20:51:27","slug":"volunteer-spotlight-mackenzie-helfrich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/volunteer-spotlight-mackenzie-helfrich\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer Spotlight: MacKenzie Helfrich"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Volunteer appreciation week is April 16-22, but we have so many wonderful volunteers to talk about it, that we\u2019ll be celebrating all month! Just a reminder, GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Madison is 99% volunteer run \u2013 which means we wouldn\u2019t be here without our volunteers. It\u2019s pretty incredible to think back on all of the hours people have given to us \u2013 5,698 hours in 2022 alone! These blogs will be posted in a question and answer format. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MacKenzie Helfrich<\/p>\n\n\n

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Why did you decide to volunteer with GiGi\u2019s Playhouse? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I first started volunteering for school credit and loved working with the families that came in for programs, so I continued to volunteer outside of the credit I needed for school. I\u2019m excited to continue being involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How long have you been a volunteer? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been volunteering since the fall of 2022 and hope to continue while I am in Madison for school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What programs, committees or events have you volunteered with? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GiGi\u2019s Kitchen Kids, Teen\/Adult and LMNOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your favorite way to volunteer with GiGi\u2019s? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love helping with GiGi\u2019s Kitchen – seeing how the kids kitchen skills progress and how they open up. They are becoming more confident and comfortable, and it has been amazing to be apart of.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you share a favorite moment from your time volunteering? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of my favorite moments is from LMNOP \u2013 watching kids try new activities and reach new milestones. Some of them started to stand on their own and walk, which was exciting and made LMNOP the best part of my day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the most impactful thing you have learned from your time at GiGi\u2019s? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How important it is to celebrate our accomplishments, no matter how small they seem. Helping others celebrate is great, it makes me happy and shows how important everything we do is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What advice would you give to someone that is new to volunteering or considering volunteering with GiGi\u2019s Playhouse? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For anyone that is new to volunteering or considering GiGi\u2019s Playhouse, I would say to have fun and help with what interests you. I would also recommend getting to know those in the program, the relationships formed with the families are amazing and help make it a fun place for everyone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, MacKenzie! \ud83e\udde1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Volunteer appreciation week is April 16-22, but we have so many wonderful volunteers to talk about it, that we\u2019ll be celebrating all month! Just a reminder, GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Madison is 99% volunteer run \u2013 which means we wouldn\u2019t be here without our volunteers. It\u2019s pretty incredible to think back on all of the hours people…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10894,"featured_media":141713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1572,1575,1565,1498],"tags":[1573,23,1574,1577,1578,21],"class_list":["post-141711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gigis-kitchen","category-lmnop","category-programs","category-volunteer","tag-college-student","tag-down-syndrome","tag-gigis-kitchen","tag-lmnop","tag-milestones","tag-volunteer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/madison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}