| Assisting families: Gayle Reger |
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Reger found she enjoys making a difference in people's livesBy ED ASHER Gayle Reger studied to be a teacher, but she found her life taking a different direction after she volunteered to work with Girl Scouts in the mid 1980s.That’s when her career working with nonprofit organizations began. “I really got involved in Girl Scouting doing some volunteer work and I decided that was my thing; that was what I wanted to do,” Reger said. “So instead of teaching, I decided to stay with Girl Scouts.” The Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas offered her a job and she ended up serving 20 years as a program director. “It was more of a hands-on kind of way to help people and I found I enjoyed working with the girls,” she said. “We did a lot of work with self-esteem programs and teaching them to be the best they can be.” Reger’s career path took another turn a year and a half ago when she became executive director of Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. “When I moved to Ronald McDonald House I wanted to focus on something where we could make some difference in someone’s life and you could see it every day,” she said. “I wanted to be where I could work closer with the families of children who are ill.” In Harlingen, the organization operates a six-bedroom house open 24 hours a day. It provides a home-away-from-home for families whose seriously-ill children are receiving medical care at local hospitals and clinics. Since it opened in 1998, more than 2,000 families have called the Rio Grande Valley’s Ronald McDonald House home. “We have families come in and stay with us a couple of days and some that stay a couple of months,” she said. “When a family leaves, they are taking their child home well, most of the time. That’s the rewarding part for us. “We see the other side too. When a child dies, we know we were here to help the family through the most difficult time in their life, and that’s rewarding too.” Submit Slice of Life suggestions to Managing Editor Lucio Castillo or City Editor Charlene Vandini at 430-6244 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
Ronald McDonald House Charities® of the Rio Grande Valley depends on the help of the community! We are eager for you to get involved. Here’s how: 95% of our families can’t afford the $10 per night we ask them to consider.
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