Happy Summer! – Written by Fatima, GiGi’s NYC Participant 

Happy Summer!

Written by Fatima, GiGi’s NYC Participant

Monthly Blog Series: Words of Wisdom

What are your plans for the summer? I would like to share a couple of holidays in June, which are Flag Day, National Sushi Day, Father’s Day, Yoga Day, Juneteenth and the first day of summer. June is a great time to spend your free time with the people that you love. 

Flag day is celebrated on June 14. A lot of people in the United States honor this day by displaying the American flag at their homes and at public buildings. Their traditions are flag raising ceremonies, school quizzes and essay competitions about the American flag, musical salutes, street parades and awards for special recognition. 

National Sushi Day is celebrated on June 18. This celebration started in 2019. This day was created to encourage people all over the world to eat sushi, and to also unite sushi lovers and dedicate one special day to them. 

Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June, this year on June 19. People do a lot of special things for their dads on Father’s Day. They show them how much they love them and how much they appreciate them by cooking special meals, giving them gifts and taking them to their favorite places. 

Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19 each year. This holiday is also known as Juneteenth National Independence Day, Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, and Black Independence Day. People started celebrating this day in 1865 in Galveston, Texas and other parts of the United States. It is to celebrate that African-American people were free from being slaves. It is based on President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which happened on January 1, 1863, which freed the enslaved people in Texas and all the other southern states of the USA. It was declared a national holiday on June 17, 2021 by President Biden. 

I have many plans for the summer. I am starting an internship, dating my boyfriend Peter, hanging out with family and friends and traveling. 

On a separate note, I would like to thank GiGi’s NYC for having a great graduation party on June 4, 2022, for all of the members of the Playhouse who graduated from middle school and high school this year. We had a great time. We played games, made graduation cards for the graduates, ate great food and, of course, danced. I think the best part of the party was dancing and eating the delicious cake. 

I also want to give a shout out to Rosella and MacKenzie for setting up the party to celebrate our accomplishments – thank you for making it happen. I want to give a special shout out to my parents for their hard work to help me graduate from High School. I am so thankful for the support in my life from my family, friends, and GiGi’s NYC. 

Please donate to GiGi’s NYC if you can. GiGi’s NYC provides many opportunities for people with Down syndrome to accomplish their goals. The participants at GiGi’s NYC are not required to pay any membership fee or for any of the activities that they choose to participate in.  Everything is free for participants so that everyone is able to participate regardless of their financial status. GiGi’s Playhouse NYC is currently looking for a bigger space because their programs have expanded tremendously. We need more room so we can start a vocational program and help people with Down syndrome with training so they can get jobs and achieve their dreams. Please help us achieve our goal of finding a bigger space for GiGi’s NYC. On June 11, 2022 we had a fundraising event for Gigi’s Playhouse, Dancing for Down Syndrome. There is still time to donate to help this wonderful organization by going to this link: https://support.gigisplayhouse.org/gigifit-acceptance-challenge-2022/event/new-york-city 

Wishing everyone a fun and safe summer! 

 Lots of Love, 

 Fatima