Our Program Leaders Are The Best Volunteers!

Every April we celebrate all of our outstanding volunteers. GiGi’s Playhouse has always strived to keep operation costs low so that we put it all back into our programs and support we offer to our families. Volunteers lead our programs, support the participants, and keep our playhouse stocked with the supplies we need. We try to highlight our incredible volunteers all year round but especially during the month of April.

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce each of our hard working volunteer leaders and give them a special “Thank You” for everything they do for our programs!

Kelli Robinson has been our LMNOP program leader for over two years! She is so talented between the instruments she plays, her ability to make anything into a song, and her knowledge of sign language; she is a huge asset to our playhouse!

Lisa Kocab

Lisa Kocab is a volunteer super hero! She is our board president, Playhouse Pals program leader, and quick to sub for any program that needs a leader a the last minute. Her career as a teacher and a mom of 5 boys including PJ the youngest with Down syndrome make her an excellent program leader. We are so lucky to have her involved with our Detroit playhouse!

Becca Daugherty started volunteering back in January of 2019. She quickly got involved with our programs and started leading Kids Club a few months later. Becca is a Special Education teacher and even with a busy career she still finds time to do a fabulous job with our participants ages 8-12!

Betsy Larson & sisters

Betsy Larson joined our playhouse back in 2019 as well. She has volunteered for and participated with her sisters in just about every program we offer. Betsy is on our board as our new secretary! She’s quick to help out with other programs when a sub leader is needed and is doing phenomenally leading our Teen Tastic program.

Nancy Sovran

Nancy Sovran has been a long time volunteer leader for our Fantastic Friends program. She has a natural talent of connecting with our adults as she has “kids” of her own in that age range. Nancy has a heart of gold and takes the time to get to know each participant and making them feel truly treasured. We are so blessed to have her volunteer at our playhouse!

Samantha Leon is a certified Zumba instructor and donates her time and talents each week since January of 2021. She is the only volunteer program leader we have who conducts her program on a weekly basis. Samantha is great instructor keeping everyone moving to the Latin beat. Thank you Samantha for teaching us all how much fun working out can be!

Sarah Daniel with little brother and twin sister

Sarah Daniel first got involved with our playhouse through attending programs with her brother and helping to raise funds during one of our big events. She approached us when COVID hit and said how she would like to start a virtual dance program. Sarah uses her lifetime of dance classes, time as a Rockette, and experiences as a sister of someone with Down syndrome to plan the routines she teaches. We appreciate Sarah for getting us on our feet twice a month for some light exercise in a really fun way!

Mia Serafini is our newest volunteer program leader. She just completed her first Art Explosion program with our playhouse and we are thrilled to have her! She has a background in art and works with adults with disabilities. Mia came highly recommended by one of our board members and we are ecstatic she agreed to volunteer!

Bev Macke is one of our fabulous Literacy Tutor Coordinators. She’s been involved with the playhouse from the start and is quick to volunteer wherever needed! Bev uses her experience as a teacher to support the literacy tutors each season. We’d be lost without her help!

Susan Chrysler is our other equally fabulous Literacy Tutor Coordinator. Susan has helped the playhouse out in so many ways. She’s great at putting the nervous tutors to ease and making sure all of the supplies are in order. Thank you for continually volunteering for our playhouse!

We are SO thankful for our volunteers! They are the heartbeat of our Playhouse!