Ripple Effect

At GiGi’s Playhouse we like to talk about the Ripple Effect- how one tiny action causes a vibration that continues to grow.

Here at GiGi’s Playhouse Madison, we’re creating a tsunami of ripples this Fall!

Our Playhouse is lucky enough to be centrally located in Madison near multiple Universities and Colleges.  We have built strong relationships with departments at these schools and they each have students that are willing and able to volunteer with us each semester.

The pandemic has forced so many organizations, including ours, to move to a virtual model. While this is not always ideal, the upside is we are able to find more opportunities to reach more Playhouse Participants and continue our mission of changing the way views Down syndrome and bring a global acceptance for all. (RIPPLE EFFECT!)

This semester we had over 80 students reach out to us for volunteer opportunities! This overwhelming response allowed us to partner with our National Office to help fulfill programming needs not only for our local Madison families, but for the entire country and over 20 additional countries on the GiGi’s at Home platform. Megan, the program coordinator for National, has said having these new volunteers come on board is allowing GiGi’s Playhouse to be more efficient because the more volunteers we have, the less staff needs to be available to facilitate programing and can focus on their core jobs. Our Site Manager, Kelly, shared that since she’s the sole employee in Madison without these volunteers we wouldn’t be able to offer the programming and tutoring our families have asked for and without our volunteers, we couldn’t exist. (RIPPLE EFFECT!)

The dozens of new and existing volunteers we have are providing 1:1 Literacy Tutoring, running programs for children through adults and assisting with behind the scenes work that is required to provide all virtual programming and make our families feel loved.  The work our volunteers do each week does not go unnoticed.  We’ve had so many local families reach out to us and share how grateful they are for the continued ways GiGi’s is continuing to be a presence in their lives, especially during this difficult time. Lee shared “my daughter LOVES the cooking class- she looks forward to it each week and it’s something we can do together”.  Other families have shared how nice it is for their young adults to have a time to connect with friends online and see familiar faces.  What they miss most about GiGi’s it the personal connections they made! (RIPPLE EFFECT!)

Many of these volunteers have only been with us for a short time, but the impact our organization and our participants is having on them has been immediate. Pat shared “it fills my heart to see so much love amidst unbelievable challenges”  and many others have shared how grateful they are to be able to work with the Down syndrome community and to make a difference in someone’s life. Some of these individuals first learned about the amazing things our Playhouse does through a class they’re taking that requires a set amount of community involvement hours but they’re quickly learning how rewarding the time they can spend with our participants, even virtually, can be. With each volunteer that learns about our Playhouse, we expand the awareness in our communities and they in turn expand the awareness and acceptance to their circles.  (RIPPLE EFFECT!)