GIGIFIT Acceptance Challenge – What It Means for Us!
This week marks a momentous week as we have officially raised over $4,000 for this year’s GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge…and we’re just getting started! As we climb towards our goal, we thought we would take some time to reflect on last year’s amazing event, remembering not only the fun but what this event means to our GiGi’s Playhouse families.
GiGiFIT Challenge 2024 – Guest Written by Vincent Cevasco
On June 15th, 2024, a group of people gathered in downtown Loveland, Ohio to not just raise money for an important non-profit, but to stand for love and acceptance for those with Down syndrome.
My wife Anna and I had just had our daughter Selah earlier that year and were still relatively new to Gigi’s Playhouse and the Down syndrome community. It had been a harrowing year for our family – navigating the birth of our daughter, the health challenges that come with Down syndrome, juggling raising two kids under two. It was a lot of change all at once.
However, when GiGi’s Playhouse announced they were doing this charity fun-run event, Anna and I decided to jump in with both feet. Even though we were newer to the community, it was already apparent how much the Cincinnati GiGi’s community was going to play in our lives. From the very start we had a home away from home, a safe space we could come with our children to play, learn, grow, and receive the care they needed to help them be successful. As a parent of a child with Down syndrome, words cannot describe how needed and impactful this has been during these first few years of our daughters life.
We didn’t really know what to expect, but took it as a great opportunity to embrace the true vision of the challenge – Acceptance. As we had become all too familiar interacting with and loving those with Down syndrome, we knew many people in our circles had not had the joy of this experience. So we started a team: Selah’s Squad. We reached out to everyone we knew, trying to share this message, encouraging them to participate in this movement and raise money for the organization that had so selflessly blessed our family.
One of the most amazing moments came on race day, when I got to see my not only my friends and family show up for the cause, but my work family as well! So many of my co-workers either donated or signed up to run, supporting not just Selah, but also the true mission of acceptance. It didn’t matter that they weren’t related to my daughter. They too recognized that if we all work together, we can show the world that everyone deserves to be included and accepted!
In total, we had over 50+ people show up for Selah’s Squad, raising a total of $4,331 (well past our $3,210 goal). And as a whole, our Cincinnati Playhouse raised a total of $29,359!
It is hard to put into words how much the GiGiFIT challenge meant to us. For my wife and I, it was our first big splash into this new family, this new community God had thrust us into. We walked away from that day knowing our daughter would always have people to love her, support her, and accept her.
It was beautiful to see how many people showed up for our daughter. But it was truly remarkable to see how many showed up for the Down syndrome community. And I just can’t wait to see how many people step up to the challenge this year.
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