Ready, Set, Go! Take Action

This is a blog by Maya Greengus, GiGi’s Playhouse Madison’s first board member with Down syndrome. Check back often to hear more from Maya, as she plans on sharing throughout the year – here and via our social media channels. 

The GiGi’s Playhouse Madison Dash for Down Syndrome is about more than taking a pledge and donating to a good cause, it is a call to action to be accepting of individuals born with Down syndrome. Being born with an extra chromosome doesn’t make us extra special, we are human, just like you. 

Do you want to know why this matters to Gigi’s Playhouse Madison? 

We are a Down syndrome achievement center that provides free programs to people of all ages, so we have access to the opportunities we need and deserve. Besides that, it’s a place where people with Down syndrome are allowed to be themselves and express their own talents and creativity. 

The reason why I walk and run for Down syndrome is to show every single person born with it that they have a supporter who will advocate for them, in addition to their parents, siblings, friends, significant other, etc. We can all support people with Down syndrome and help them live life to their fullest potential: be capable, confident, make friends, get a job, go to school – everything people do who live their own lives. 

My team is the Madison Advocates. It all started in 2020 during the pandemic when I wanted to start a Down syndrome advocate committee where individuals with Down syndrome spread the word about GiGi’s and the message to be accepting, be generous and be kind. We are the Madison Advocate team. The group includes myself, Sadler Bell, Abbey Kaiser and Jen Strauss.

If you want to be involved, take the Generation G pledge, and participate in the Dash for Down Syndrome by forming a team or joining our team, the more the merrier!