Volunteers Paula & Gigi Juras

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When Gigi started 7th grade, she and her mother Paula joined the National Charity League (NCL), an organization which fosters mother-daughter relationships through community service, leadership development, and cultural experiences.

Since NCL partners with Read and Feed, Paula and Gigi decided to volunteer with us. They currently tutor, pick up food, and help with set up at the Read and Feed site at Grace Bible Fellowship Church in Cary.

Paula and Gigi love to share their love of reading with the Read and Feed kids. When Gigi was little, their standing Friday night family date was dinner out followed by a couple of hours at the bookstore where Gigi would pick out several books that they could read together. They loved Sandra Boynton books and the Fairly Realm series as well as historical storybooks, which they would read before visiting historical sites.

In the past year, Paula and Gigi have worked with some amazing children. Gigi read with a 4th grade boy who at first didn’t seem to enjoy reading. “Then one day we picked a non-fiction book to read, and he just took off from there” Gigi says.

What Gigi enjoys most about volunteering with Read and Feed is seeing the kids accomplish something new each week, fighting to find an answer and then feeling so proud when they figure it out.

Last week Paula was working with a 1st grader who just completed his Rainbow Words chart. She asked him, “Do you know what this means? It means you can read 200 words.” And on his way out the door she heard him shout, “Hey Sam! I can read 200 words!” It was awesome moment for her to witness.

Paula says, “We love Read and Feed day. We both can be having the worst crabbiest day, but when we leave Read and Feed, we are always in the happiest mood.”