Quarterly Highlights: October – December 2023

GiGi’s NYC recently closed out our fall semester, and it was nothing short of amazing! Check out the recap below to read about our remarkable 4th quarter:

• We hosted a special art event in honor of Down Syndrome Awareness Month with ELTSUH, a “modern prep x streetwear” fashion brand on a mission. Daniel, ELTSUH Founder and Creative Director, first partnered with us at our 5th Annual Fashion Show, where some of our participants rocked the runway in an ELTSUH design. With the guidance of Daniel, participants used their creativity to inspire a future collection of ELTSUH designs. Stay tuned!
• Alivia launched its fall collection inspired by the creative minds of our participants, Denise and Adam. As a result, Denise was featured on the cover of her local newspaper! Be sure to read it here. Alivia also launched its Holiday Collection inspired by our participant, Charlotte, and a sweater inspired by our participant, Brittany!
• IREM – Greater NY Chapter named us as their charity partner again for their Annual Clay Shoot. As a result, we received a very generous donation totaling over $20k. We are eternally grateful!
• We celebrated THE NEXT DECADE of GiGi’s NYC at our Annual Gala, where we honored Ruth Erickson, Board Member Emeritus, and Brian Lichtenstein, President of Gradiant Services. Check out photos from this memorable night here. 
• We had a spooktacular time at our annual Halloween party with games, Halloween-themed snacks, music and more! 
• We partnered with Montana Bass, Sex Education Provider and Consultant, for a six-part Healthy Relationships Series. 
• We were honored with the Generation G award at our National Conference, bestowed to us for our “incredible work with adult empowerment and advocacy.”
• The wonderful staff of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation joined us for a day of service on two separate occasions. We hope to have them back again soon!
• For GivingTuesday, our participants gave back by gathering food, clothing, and essentials for families served by a public school in the community. This school educates children of under-resourced families in Harlem, and children of families that have recently migrated from around the world.
• We launched a 12-week session of GiGi Prep for adults with Down syndrome ages 18+ with a plan to continue on the career development path. GiGi Prep, the first of three programs in our Career Development Program series, places emphasis on building communication skills, money management, customer service skills, team building and wellness. The semester was marked with so many highlights, some of which are listed below:
  • In addition to classroom-based instruction, we partnered with several corporations to provide our students with real-world experience in the areas of communication and interview skills:
    • Microsoft hosted our students, as well as Avanade, Accenture and Nasdaq, at their Times Square location. Check out this blog to view photos and videos from this event.
    • A panel of employees from Bullhorn hosted our students virtually.
    • Derek Still, former GiGi’s NYC volunteer, and his colleague, Ryan Mulholland, hosted our students in-person at Google. 
  • Our students had a virtual visit with Zoe DeGeorge, a Board-Certified Health Coach. They learned about how to make healthy food choices and were able to ask their most pressing health and wellness questions.
  • All seven students graduated and will be continuing on to our second Career Development Program, GiGi University! Be sure to check out this video recap of our inaugural GiGi Prep Fall 2023 Semester. 
• We held our 2nd Annual Holiday Market to close out the semester, which featured one-of-a-kind items created by our awesome participants.

We are extremely thankful for all our amazing participants, families, volunteers, donors, staff and community partners. We can do what we do because of YOU!