Gloria and Cindy Knoch Volunteer Spirit Award Winner – Vicky McKinney

Every year at our annual “I Have A Voice” Gala and Auction we honor one special volunteer that has gone above and beyond for the playhouse with the Gloria and Cindy Knoch Volunteer Spirit Award.  This year’s winner was Vicky McKinney!  We are so thankful to have amazing people at our playhouse!

Vicky McKinney first came to GiGi’s Playhouse as a mother of a child with Down syndrome, but for the past several years has also been using her training as a behavior support specialist to volunteer and enhance our programming. She has been an incredible resource, helping to provide training for our staff and volunteers across numerous programs and direct behavioral support for individual programs.

Vicky helps our program coordinator, Carlie Long, lead our volunteer orientations and train new volunteers. During these trainings she provides our volunteers with insight into working with individuals with Down syndrome. She explains why certain behaviors may occur and provides our volunteers with helpful, positive redirection and reinforcement strategies. She has also attended numerous programs to model those positive behavioral reinforcements for volunteers to ensure our participants are getting the most out of our programs. Vicky has also been integral to the continued success of our music program. As a regular program volunteer, she has helped our program leaders navigate behaviors so that our music programs run smoothly and participants are able to receive the most value from the therapeutic and educational components of the program.

Not only has Vicky made a huge impact on GiGi’s Playhouse Nashville but she has also helped other playhouses across our entire network. This past year, she was asked to present her insights on promoting positive behaviors at our national GiGi’s Playhouse Conference, with more than 50 playhouses in attendance. We are so proud and lucky to have such amazing volunteers like Vicky.