Celebrating FRIENDS and Volunteers
A message from our Gala Committee:
Thank you to the 350+ people who attended or supported the annual fundraising gala. We loved seeing old friends and meeting new FRIENDS too. It was great having Andrew Stutzke as our emcee and the speakers were inspirational and informational too! The entertainment, especially the Rock Band performance, made the night exciting. Thank you, Misty, from Quad Cities Music Therapy for all the work that goes into this program and their performances. She is a true FRIEND of our Playhouse.
Many thanks to everyone who made it all possible. Special thanks to all the volunteers for preparations, night of event help, and clean up too!
😍Together we raised just over $93,000 for our Playhouse! Thank you all!
3 additional things:
1. Pictures from the event can be seen here but we’d love to see your photos too. Click here to upload any you’d like to share. Photo Upload Link Here
2. If you are interested in being part of the Gala Committee to plan and coordinate the 2025 Gala, please let us know. Email quadcities@gigisplayhouse.org or call 309-762-7529 and ask for Pam.
3. Save the Date! Saturday, October 18, 2025, at Rhythm City Casino
Awards
Every year at the gala we recognize a few outstanding volunteers.
Volunteer(s) of the Year
Congratulations to Maryann Tyler on being awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award! Maryann Tyler has been leading and assisting with Teen Talk, Teen Tastic, Fantastic Friends, and Coffee Club. As a Speech Pathologist her expertise is invaluable but even more important is her passion, commitment, and outgoing personality. Thank you, Maryann!
Tutor of the Year
Heather Matzen is new to tutoring this year, but boy does she make it fun. She and Zoey have even made banana splits and cookies! She always has great ideas up her sleeves and isn’t afraid to implement them in a tutoring session. Thank you, Heather!
Congratulations, Heather Matzen!
Generation G
The Melloy family became familiar with GiGi’s Playhouse after Sean was paired with Pax (a GiGi’s participant) at school for their mentorship program. Sean and his family quickly became champions of Pax, supporting him and the entire family. Meeting Sean left us with a renewed feeling in our youth. If I could clone the hashtag #belikeSean, we would. Thank you for being you and helping change the way the world views Down syndrome. Thank you, Sean & Melloy Family for being accepting, generous, and kind!
We want to thank not only these volunteers but ALL of the volunteers and all of YOU!
Our Playhouse thrives thanks to volunteers, families, and community and your commitment and support to our mission of changing the way the world views Down syndrome.
Coffee Pull
Many thanks to several local coffee shops, families, and volunteers for donating coffee items to make sure our coffee pull was full of fantastic coffee items. There were bags of coffee, gift cards, mugs, and more.
Thank you to the following shops and individuals. We hope we didn’t miss anyone. The coffee was coming in so fast we couldn’t keep up!
- Scooter’s Coffee
- The Atlas Collective
- Sunny’s Coffee
- Starbucks
- Lynch Family
- Cobb Family
- Matzen Family
- Tooley Family
- Nicki Gibbs
- Maryann Tyler
- Koepke Family
- Rise up
Sponsors
Additional thanks to all of the sponsors for making this event possible. Your support shows that you believe in the GiGi’s mission to change the way the world views Down syndrome and you want to see that change right here in the Quad Cities.
2024 Gala Committee
- Pam Lynch, Co-Chair
- Hilary Oliver, Co-Chair
- Tim Gulbranson
- Carissa Hassebrock
- Meribeth Johnson
- Jenny Juehring
Donate
Did you miss the event this year? You can still help us reach our fundraising goal by donating!
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