Our meet-and-greet with “THE GiGi” and her amazing mom

Last week—on Wednesday, March 4, 2020—Cincinnati held our first meet-and-greet with “THE GiGi” and her mom Nancy.
Beginning at 6:30 p.m., groups of people began pouring into the Warren C. Young Center in Lebanon in order to learn a little bit about GiGi’s Playhouse and to meet its founder (Nancy Gianni), as well as its inspiration (Nancy’s daughter, GiGi Gianni).
The night began with lots of kids with Down syndrome playing with lots of kids without Down syndrome, as well as about thirty to forty adults mingling with each other. Guests consisted of people with Down syndrome, as well as their parents, siblings, friends and special education teachers from around the Cincinnati area. Booths were set up around the room for people to learn more about GiGi’s Playhouse.

Finally, Nancy took the mic. She told the packed house about why she started GiGi’s Playhouse 16 years ago, heartwarming stories from her journey with her daughter and why she’s so excited to have a GiGi’s Playhouse location coming to Cincinnati. When Nancy finished, GiGi took over. She read her speech, made some jokes and had everyone laughing. Nancy and GiGi together are quite the dynamic duo. They had the whole room intrigued and engaged.

After the speeches, a long line formed where people bought GiGi’s Playhouse T-shirts and Nancy’s book called “Generation G: A True Story of Miracles, Hope and Unconditional Acceptance.” After that, everyone in line got to get their pictures taken with both Nancy and GiGi! Both women were as gracious and kind as could be.

As people left the meet-and-greet, there were lots of smiles and untamed optimism about the future of GiGi’s Playhouse in Cincinnati. You could feel the excitement throughout the event all night!

We can’t wait to get things rolling as Gigi’s Playhouse makes its way to Cincinnati. If it offers anything like the positive energy from the meet-and-greet, it’s bound to be a roaring success.