In Memory of Our Friend and Colleague, Mary Jo Ginty

On December 29, 2019, we lost a colleague, leader, mentor, friend, and giant. And it hurts. Mary Jo Ginty made a significant impact on all of us in so many ways, personally and professionally. Her passing is a momentous loss to everyone who knew her. Her contributions to the Expanded Learning field will be one of her greatest legacies. It is fair to say she taught us so many valuable lessons along the way.

As many of you know, Mary Jo was chosen as our 2020 BOOST OSTI Award winner for the trailblazing contributions that she made to our field. We were so excited to honor Mary Jo in front of her peers at the BOOST Conference and recognize her for the tireless love and commitment she made to Expanded Learning programs. She deserved to be on the stage, in all the glory, as she planned for her retirement in October 2020 and to celebrate her immense legacy.

As a field and community, we still plan to honor Mary Jo onstage on Wednesday, April 29th at the BOOST Conference. Behind the scenes, we have been collecting video testimonials as well as photos of Mary Jo from over the years that will result in a video tribute to honor her. This video will live on as a special memory of LOVE for her family, for her daughter Savannah, and as an inspiration to the field to carry on Mary Jo’s legacy.

WAYS TO PARTICIPATE

We hope that you will contribute a 15-20 second video tribute to honor Mary Jo. Feel free to use the prompts below. You can also send photos to be included in the video.

Option 1

We are offering an opportunity with a professional videographer immediately following the LACOE Advisory meeting on January 24, 2020 in Room 610, located just inside the entry of the building and on the way to and from the meeting room.
Please sign up for your time slot here.
*Deadline to sign up, January 15, 2020.

Option 2

Please email your video submission and/or photos to Gabriela Delgado at gaby@boostcollaborative.org by 5pm on January 25, 2020.

Prompting Questions for Tributes

Sample prompting questions below – you can answer as many as you like or create your own.

• A favorite memory with Mary Jo
• What you loved most about Mary Jo
• How Mary Jo has influenced/impacted your life/program/career
• The greatest lesson Mary Jo ever taught you
• Your favorite quality about Mary Jo
• Funniest story about Mary Jo

GO FUND ME CAMPAIGN 

Another lasting legacy of Mary Jo’s is being a mother to Savannah. She took great pride in loving and raising her daughter, and we are currently trying to navigate next steps and determine what support is needed to make sure Savannah has everything she needs to be aided through this loss. We have set up a Go Fund Me page to assist Savannah financially in the short term. We hope that you will consider giving back the same way Mary Jo always did for all of us.

Please feel free to share this blog, as we want to include as many tributes as possible to Mary Jo in this video, and support Savannah during this critical time.

Life is short. Hug your family and friends a little tighter today.

Many thanks and much love,
TEAMBOOST

CELEBRATION OF LIFE

Mary Jo’s family will be having a Celebration of Life on Sunday, January 26th, from 2:00pm-5:00pm, at St. Anthony High School, 620 Olive Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802, in the hall across the street.  All are welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Anthony Parish Community and/or WomenShelter of Long Beach, both causes close to Mary Jo.