“Cleaning House” at GiGi’s Playhouse is a Team Effort!

GiGi’s Playhouse is fortunate to have many wonderful community partners, and there are two very special ones that we want to thank for keeping our facility clean and presentable — Link Associates and ServiceMaster Green.

Link Associates is a local community-based non-profit organization that provides services for more than 900 individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families. Each week, we welcome a group from Link Associates to do light housekeeping at our Playhouse. “Light housekeeping” is putting it mildly, though, as we have seen great attention to detail from some of their VIP (Volunteer Investment Program) members who go the extra mile by wiping down all the items and figurines in our Playskool kitchen and playhouse! In this photo, Link Associates Direct Service Provider Jackie poses with VIP members Kevin and Daniel.

Every two weeks, Bill from ServiceMaster Green comes to provide janitorial services. Bill comes after business hours and we rarely see him, but an evening of GiGi’s Art Explosion this past Monday kept us at the Playhouse a bit later and gave us a chance to talk to Bill. We learned that he has been cleaning GiGi’s Playhouse since November of 2023, and that he takes a great deal of pride in his work. He can tell from our facilities – indoor playground, art studio, fully stocked kitchen, gymnasium, tutoring rooms, etc. – that we are committed to providing a beautiful and welcoming space for the individuals with Down syndrome and their families, and he loves that. Bill takes his time to vacuum, mop, clean the many counters and tabletops, tend to our bathrooms and take out the trash to our dumpster. It can be a thankless job, and we’re glad we had the chance to thank him on this evening. We want to give a shout out to Carlos Cardenas for ServiceMaster Green’s generous in-kind donation of these twice-monthly janitorial services.

The staff and families of GiGi’s Playhouse Des Moines really appreciate Link Associates and ServiceMaster Green!