{"id":62332,"date":"2023-03-23T09:08:21","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T14:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?post_type=newsroom&#038;p=62332"},"modified":"2024-09-12T10:08:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T15:08:17","slug":"franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community","status":"publish","type":"newsroom","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Top H&#038;R Block Franchisee Continues Father\u2019s Legacy with Focus on Illinois Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Leading by example, Mary K. Harris\u2019 late father, David, introduced her to H&amp;R Block and community service at a young age. David owned an H&amp;R Block franchise in a small Illinois town until 2015. Mary then worked at franchise owned by Rosemary DaCosse, and later purchased that franchise in 2018, just one year after her dad\u2019s death. Although she\u2019s in a different location than her dad\u2019s original franchise, she has continued his leadership with her team and community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like a dream,\u201d said Harris. \u201cWe had a three-year goal to get to where we are now, and we did it in one year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She notes her team thrives in hospitality. From helping a client with mobility issues navigate their office and feel at home, to getting familiar with H&amp;R Block\u2019s virtual tools, this Anna, IL team is dedicated to gaining the trust of new and existing clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>David had a strong work ethic and was committed to treating his clients and employees with care. He went the extra mile with community involvement, which is exactly how Harris is continuing his legacy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy motto has always been, \u2018leave it better than you found it,\u2019 and that\u2019s the principle we follow with our community,\u201d said Harris. \u201cI want my small business to have a hand in making every block better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/makeeveryblockbetter\/\">Make Every Block Better<\/a> is H&amp;R Block\u2019s community impact platform. Harris\u2019 franchise personally focuses on the platform by leading two large community activations in Anna:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Giving Parade<\/strong><br>She successfully proposed the \u201cGiving Parade\u201d to the Anna city council in 2019, in partnership with Pay it Forward, to collect holiday presents that support more than 300 families in the community. The now annual event concludes with the Giving Parade hosted on Small Business Saturday to bring residents to \u201cMain Street\u201d to support local businesses.<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Block Out Hunger<\/strong><br>A community tradition and \u201cclient favorite\u201d is \u201cBlock Out Hunger,\u201d where the franchise collects food donations that go to the local food pantry. Collection boxes are placed in the office each year, allowing clients to easily make their contributions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;These two programs are close to my heart, because I understand what it feels like to struggle with food insecurity and financial insecurity. I was a single mom of three and we went through a rough time for two years. I am fortunate to have wonderful parents that were able to help me, but even with that, it is so hard to ask for help,\u201d said Harris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through these community events, Mary hopes to create a support system that allows her to further assist residents and clients in need. \u201cMy dad would be proud,\u201d Harris said. \u201cHe emphasized doing our best for others and always doing the right thing even when it was not the easiest thing to do. It aligns with H&amp;R Block\u2019s purpose, which means a lot.\u201d<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leading by example, Mary K. Harris\u2019 late father, David, introduced her to H&amp;R Block and community service at a young age. David owned an H&amp;R Block franchise in a small Illinois town until 2015. Mary then worked at franchise owned by Rosemary DaCosse, and later purchased that franchise in 2018, just one year after her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":406,"featured_media":62334,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[],"news-categories":[23336],"class_list":["post-62332","newsroom","type-newsroom","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-categories-people-culture"],"acf":{"post_rest_thumbnail_alt_id":""},"yoast_head":"<title>H&amp;R Block Newsroom | Franchisee Continues Father\u2019s Legacy with Focus on Illinois Community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Although Mary K. Harris is in a different location than her dad\u2019s original franchise, she has continued his leadership with her team and community.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top H&amp;R Block Franchisee Continues Father\u2019s Legacy with Focus on Illinois Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although Mary K. Harris is in a different location than her dad\u2019s original franchise, she has continued his leadership with her team and community.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-12T15:08:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mary-K-Harris-Newsroom.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"369\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/people-culture\\\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/people-culture\\\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\\\/\",\"name\":\"H&R Block Newsroom | Franchisee Continues Father\u2019s Legacy with Focus on Illinois Community\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/people-culture\\\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/people-culture\\\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/Mary-K-Harris-Newsroom.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-23T14:08:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-12T15:08:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"Although Mary K. Harris is in a different location than her dad\u2019s original franchise, she has continued his leadership with her team and community.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/people-culture\\\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/people-culture\\\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/people-culture\\\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/Mary-K-Harris-Newsroom.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/Mary-K-Harris-Newsroom.png\",\"width\":700,\"height\":369},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/people-culture\\\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newsroom Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/newsroom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Top H&#038;R Block Franchisee Continues Father\u2019s Legacy with Focus on Illinois Community\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"H&amp;R Block\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"H&R Block Newsroom | Franchisee Continues Father\u2019s Legacy with Focus on Illinois Community","description":"Although Mary K. Harris is in a different location than her dad\u2019s original franchise, she has continued his leadership with her team and community.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Top H&R Block Franchisee Continues Father\u2019s Legacy with Focus on Illinois Community","og_description":"Although Mary K. Harris is in a different location than her dad\u2019s original franchise, she has continued his leadership with her team and community.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/","og_site_name":"H&amp;R Block","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock","article_modified_time":"2024-09-12T15:08:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mary-K-Harris-Newsroom.png","width":700,"height":369,"type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@hrblock","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/","name":"H&R Block Newsroom | Franchisee Continues Father\u2019s Legacy with Focus on Illinois Community","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mary-K-Harris-Newsroom.png","datePublished":"2023-03-23T14:08:21+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-12T15:08:17+00:00","description":"Although Mary K. Harris is in a different location than her dad\u2019s original franchise, she has continued his leadership with her team and community.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mary-K-Harris-Newsroom.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mary-K-Harris-Newsroom.png","width":700,"height":369},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/people-culture\/franchisee-continues-fathers-legacy-with-focus-on-illinois-community\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newsroom Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Top H&#038;R Block Franchisee Continues Father\u2019s Legacy with Focus on Illinois Community"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/","name":"H&amp;R Block","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom\/62332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/newsroom"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom\/62332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62332"},{"taxonomy":"news-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-categories?post=62332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}