Whitley

✨ Volunteer Spotlight: The Whitley Gray Story ✨

(A PTA-scale epic.)

As the sun set on Greathouse this fall, most families saw the fun: the games, the booths, the popcorn, the music, the smiling kids. What they didn’t see was the marathon of work that lived underneath it all — the kind of work that one volunteer quietly carried from August all the way through November.

This is the story of Whitley Gray, our VP of Fundraising — the force behind both Roar & Raise and the Fall Festival — and the reason our school is celebrating something truly extraordinary this year.

Act 1: The Build-Up — Roar & Raise

Before the first pumpkin ever landed on the Fall Festival planning sheet… Whitley was already running a full campaign.

She built the entire Roar & Raise Fall Fundraiser, piece by piece:

• Designed the donor structure and communication flow
  
  

• Coordinated prizes and incentives
  
  

• Worked with teachers to make the homework passes and classroom bonuses meaningful
  
  

• Managed the Zeffy setup
  
  

• Verified every single donation that came in — hundreds of entries — to ensure students got exactly what they earned
  
  

• Sent daily updates, tracked goals, and kept families excited
  
  

• Prepared everything needed so the fundraiser could close cleanly and Redbook-compliant
  
  

By the time the fundraiser ended, she wasn’t tired — she was shifting into second gear.

Act 2: The Festival — The Part Everyone Saw (but only half of what happened)

Fall Festival was a massive operation this year.
And while it took a village, the heartbeat of the entire event — planning, logistics, vendors, and structure — lived with Whitley.

She:

• Coordinated all vendors and community partners
  
  

• Set up every booth plan, layout, and flow
  
  

• Built the prize and raffle system
  
  

• Oversaw food, inflatables, and equipment
  
  

• Tracked every financial step to make sure we stayed compliant
  
  

• Ensured every wristband, ticket, and pass traced back correctly for accounting
  
  

• Troubleshot a dozen last-minute crises like a pro
  
  

• Thanked volunteers and community partners
  
  

• Kept morale high even when the to-do list tried to break everyone
  
  

When the lights turned off on October 24, the rest of us went home.
Whitley went back to work.

Act 3: After the Festival — The Part No One Saw

This is where the real heroics began.

While the school was quiet and the crowds were gone, Whitley sat with:

• Donation lists
  
  

• Vendor invoices
  
  

• Prize sheets
  
  

• Classroom winner lists
  
  

• Ticket logs
  
  

• Wristband counts
  
  

• Reimbursement requests
  
  

• Redbook worksheets
  
  

• Communication drafts
  
  

• Follow-ups that had to be perfect
  
  

She:

• Cross-checked every donation and incentive
  
  

• Verified homework passes, car rider winners, and family experience packages
  
  

• Followed up with all vendors
  
  

• Completed and confirmed forms for Redbook accuracy
  
  

• Ensured every dollar sent in matched every dollar recorded
  
  

• Filled gaps, fixed mismatches, caught missing entries
  
  

• Communicated updates to teachers and staff
  
  

• Held every piece of the puzzle together until it was perfectly closed out
  
  

This was not a one-night task.
This was weeks of disciplined, meticulous, “no one will ever know I did this” work.

Except we do know.

Act 4: The Impact — The Big Reveal

Because of Whitley’s leadership — her systems, her checks, her stewardship of every fundraiser dollar — our PTA can now proudly say:

🦁 The new Greathouse playground is no longer a dream.
It is officially becoming a reality.

Her work didn’t just run events.
Her work secured the foundation for the biggest improvement to our school in years.

Final Act: The Applause

Whitley never asked for recognition.
In fact, she’ll point to everyone but herself.

But today, we shine the biggest possible spotlight on her.

To Whitley:
Your energy, heart, and leadership shaped this entire season.
Your work is the reason hundreds of children will play on a new playground.
Your grit is the thread that held Roar & Raise and Fall Festival together.
And your dedication is what makes Greathouse stronger.

💛💙 Thank you for everything you poured into this community.
You made magic — quietly, powerfully, and completely.

#GHLionsPTA #VolunteerSpotlight #PTAHero #FallFestivalToPlayground #RoarAndRaise #WeGrowLionsHere