Hebbeler began her career as an educator, teaching the deaf, hearing-impaired students, and their families to hone their skills in sign language, lip reading and hearing-assist technology to improve their quality of life. Born deaf herself, she has dedicated much of her life to helping those who struggle with the same problems she deals with on a daily basis.
Through her work with the Family Center on Deafness, Hebbeler has empowered the deaf with self-reliance, education and active independence. Beyond serving as an inspiring role model for the hearing impaired, she's helped more than 800 parents navigate their deaf children's lives and assisted more than 500 deaf students secure more productive learning.
Hebbeler becomes the 419th Lightning Community Hero since Jeff and Penny Vinik introduced the Lightning Community Hero program in 2011-12 with a $10 million, five-season commitment to the Tampa Bay community. Through this evening's game, in total, the Lightning Foundation has granted $21.9 million to more than 750 different nonprofits in the Greater Tampa Bay area. During the summer of 2016, the Viniks announced that the community hero program will give away another $10 million over the next five seasons.
