GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge 2025: A MOVEment for Acceptance!

This past Saturday, our community came together in an incredible show of support for the GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge—a physical and social MOVEment for acceptance! With a goal of uniting 1 million global supporters for the Down syndrome community, we declared loud and clear: “We can and will accept you as you are!”

We are thrilled to share that over 330 participants registered for the event, and we surpassed our fundraising goal of $60,000, raising over $65,000! Teams can still continue fundraising and sharing photos from the event, further extending the impact of this amazing initiative.

Thank You to Our Incredible Sponsors!

A huge thank you to our sponsors who made this event possible:

• Beazer Charity Foundation – Not only a sponsor but also active participants and volunteers! They also won a few age group awards in the 5K including Kristi, shown here, who volunteered, ran, won her age group, then went back to volunteering! 🌟

• Comprehensive Marketing Incorporated
• Accurate Personnel Services
• Sunbelt Rentals
• SDI Steel Dynamics
• Dicks Sporting Goods Foundation

We also extend our gratitude to Coca-Cola Bottling United and Monster Energy for keeping us hydrated, and to HPC Cue DJs for keeping the energy high with great music!

Special Highlights from the Event

It was an honor to have the Atlanta Track Club join us to promote their Runner 321 Initiative. Their ambassador runners paired up with our participants with Down syndrome, creating heartwarming moments of teamwork and camaraderie.

Our pre-race warm up was brought to us by Elisha McKenzie of Leeshie Lifesyle with a fun and high energy Zumba workout! Elisha teaches Zumba to our kids & teens one Saturday a month at the Playhouse! She is an adult with Down syndrome who has found her calling with Zumba and loves sharing her passion with her community!

A big shout-out to RISE Coffee & Tea, who joined us as a vendor. Be sure to check out their website for special programs and social events for adults with special needs.

We also want to express our appreciation to Mike Gutting for capturing so many incredible moments with his photography, and to Start2Finish for their expert timing services and dedication to making our course accessible and fun! Click here to see all 5K results!

Adding to the excitement, GA Tech Down to Dance led an energizing choreography session while our 5K runners were on the course—proving that movement is for everyone! Down to Dance holds dance classes each Monday at 5:30pm for our teens!

Celebrating Our Participants

• Highest Fundraising Team: Congratulations to Theo Neff! (While technically, Beazer Homes Team raised the most, they are a sponsor, so we’re awarding the Neffs 2 Gala tickets!)

• Largest Team: Team AJ, with over 20 participants! They earned a shade tent, a cooler of drinks, and the honor of kicking off the 5K race.

• Second Largest Team: Team Tut, who proudly started off the 1-Mile race.

• Top Individual Fundraiser: Special recognition to Lauren Zwieg, who raised over $8,000 on her personal race page! She is currently the top fundraiser of ALL GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenges nationally!

Thank you to Summer Schmidt and her family for providing fantastic face painting, and a massive round of applause for all our volunteers who dedicated their Saturday morning to making this event a success!

Looking Forward to Next Year!

We are beyond proud of our community for coming together to celebrate and advocate for acceptance. The energy, passion, and support displayed this weekend were truly inspiring, and we can’t wait to do it all again next year!

Stay connected, keep sharing your stories, and let’s continue moving for acceptance!