GiGi’s Playhouse Quad Cities 5K = FANTASTIC Day!
- 39 Fundraising Teams
- 50+ Volunteers
- 70 Raffle Items
- 635+ Registrations
- $70,000 Raised
We say “thank you” dozens of times, but it never feels like enough. The GiGi’s Playhouse Quad Cities 2026 5K, 1 Mile Walk and Kids’ Dash was truly Fantastic 4 All! Despite the heat, we were grateful the rain moved through before the event began. Most importantly, we were surrounded by an incredible community of participants, volunteers, sponsors, donors, and supporters who made the day such a success.
Team Captains
Without your time and effort in recruiting family and friends to join you, this peer-to-peer fundraiser and awareness effort would not be possible. Thank you for being part of the challenge and for believing! We always highlight the top 10 teams at the event but please know that every team is valuable to raising awareness for this event and the need for acceptance in our community! A list of all teams can be seen in this previous blog.
Spokes Heroes
Thank you to Ollie, Emma, Jack, and Zoey for being the FANTASTIC spokes heroes for this year’s event.
Volunteers
With more than 50 volunteers helping throughout the event, we’re afraid we’d miss someone if we tried to name everyone individually. Please know that if you volunteered, you were an important part of this event’s success. From setup and registration to cheering on participants and helping everything run smoothly, there were countless moving parts throughout the day. Your time, energy, and willingness to lend a hand made all the difference and helped create a memorable experience for everyone involved. Thank you for being part of what made this event so special! 💙💛
Raffle
The raffle alone raised close to $4000. There were many great items available, thanks to the generosity of numerous donors. We hope that the new process made the drawing go a little faster and a little less confusing.
Runner, Walkers, and Dashers
Thank you for registering to participate. We hope you had a great time. Show the world you know who you are by wearing your event shirts with pride! We can’t wait to see you out in the community.
🏃♀️➡️⌛5K participants, the list of times and standings can be seen here.
Photographers
Thank you to the Snap Wagon and Mylee from Infinity Photography for capturing the smiling faces from the day.
Food
Thank you to the following people and places for their generous in-kind donations of food and beverages:
- Hy-Vee
- Costco
Planning Committee
Many thanks to the planning committee for putting in the time and effort to plan the event. This is not done in days or weeks but over an entire year!
- Natalie Bates
- Mark Taghon
- Brian Yaklich
- Amy Schatterman
- Andrew Thompson
- Pam Lynch
Additional special mentions – thanks to the following for their time and efforts!
- Packet/Shirt Prep Crew plus the volunteers who assisted with packet pick-up and raffle preparation
- Kate Holsen (National Anthem)
- Brian Lynch & Paul Croll
- Matt Karstens
- Amanda Cook (shirt design)
- Sue & Mike Swegle
- Lisa O’Connor (kids’ dash and raffle)
- Jason Kratz (lead bike)
- Dawn & Korryn Taghon (manning the turnaround)
- Koepke Family & others for cheering on the runners
- Kelly Family for setting up & assisting with the water stops
- Josh Sherrod from River Bend Productions (announcer)
- End Results Timing Company (5K Timing)
- Fleet Feet (archway, bags, and promotion)
- QC Custom Tees (printing signs and shirts)
- Joe Moreno (run and water stop equipment)
- MidAmerica Cares Volunteer Group (raffle prep, packet pick-up, and kids’ dash). Learn more about this volunteer group here.
- Elaina Ruesch, Miss Iowa ARB Teen (costume awards)
Last but not least, a BIG thank you to Herkey for making a special appearance! Everyone, well almost everyone, was super excited to see him. We’ve already heard that next year we should invite Chief Illiniwek, but we’ve heard that he has retired! Who would you like to see as a special guest at one of our events?
We know we’ve likely missed someone, but please know that we are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped in any way. Thank you for being part of our success!
While this event is a fundraiser to raise crucial funds for the playhouse, the free programs we offer, and to raise awareness for the need for acceptance, it is so much more than that! It is also a chance for individuals with Down syndrome to show the world who they are!
YOU make a difference in our playhouse, the community, and the lives of our participants!
If your name was not mentioned, please know that we truly appreciate every one of you, but we’d be here all day if we listed the many people who make this event happen. Thank YOU!
Sponsors
On behalf of everyone at GiGi’s, we thank you!
GiGi’s Board Members: Kathy Kuhnen, Kim Nimrick, Nathan Kessler, Anna Carmichael, Meribeth Johnson, Andrew Thompson, Rachel Conley, Maddie Blackbourn
Staff: Nathan Bates, Pam Lynch, Ann Cobb, and Anna Kronenberger
While we sadly did not reach our goal for the year, we are still incredibly blessed by how giving and supportive the Quad Cities community has been. Every registration, donation, sponsorship, volunteer hour, and word of encouragement helped make this year’s event a success and supports the free, purposeful programs we offer for individuals with Down syndrome and their families.
If you would still like to support this year’s event, the donation option will remain open for a few more weeks. Every gift, no matter the size, helps us continue changing lives through free educational, therapeutic, and career development programs.
You can learn more and donate here: Event Website
Thank you for believing in our mission and helping us create a more accepting and inclusive world for all.
P.S. As of 6/17/26, our small playhouse is in 10th place for fundraising among all locations hosting GiGi’s 5K events. The overall Playhouse Leaderboard is available here.
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