October 2025 Best of All
The highlights below are just a few of the #bestofall moments we witnessed during October. Participant & Program Best of All Miss Ann brought her fun buzzer system in to play some guessing games with both Teen Talk and GiGi’s Achievers. The groups had such a fun time slapping their...
Meet the Interns Fall 2025
We're a little late in doing this introduction, but we hope you've all had a chance to meet our current interns. They have all been busy leading programs and/or tutoring since late August. Isabella Hi! My name is Isabella Hart, and I am so excited to be interning at GiGi’s...
We had a ball! 2025 Gala
We had a ball at our annual fundraising gala on Saturday, October 18th. Close to 300 people were in attendance, and we raised just over $98,000 to ensure GiGi’s can continue providing FREE purposeful programs for individuals with Down syndrome here in the Quad Cities. We'd love to reach $100,000,...
September 2025 Best of All
The highlights below are just a few of the #bestofall moments we witnessed during September. Participant & Program Best of All Our Fantastic Friends and Teen Tastic participants were able to get out in our community and go mini golfing at Valley Falls Adventure Golf in Coal Valley, IL. Two...
Sock it to Social – DSAM 2025
Down Syndrome Awareness Month 2025 We’re kicking off Down Syndrome Awareness Month and celebrating 14 years of serving the Quad Cities. Plus, we’ll have a little fun on social media throughout the month. Parking Lot Party Wednesday, October 1, 5:30-7:30 pm Food trucks, fun, games, and friendship! Streets of Italy...
Have a Ball with GiGi’s
You are cordially invited to join us on Saturday, October 18th, for our annual fundraising gala. We will have a ball and hope you'll join us! Doors open at 5:30 pm for cocktail hour, followed by the program at 6:30 pm. The evening will feature inspiring words from our special...
August 2025 Best of All
The highlights below are just a few of the #bestofall moments we witnessed during August. Participant & Program Best of All The Teen Talk crew had an amazing time learning and practicing phone conversations at the last meeting. These participants called restaurants and practiced asking appropriate questions with good speech...
Rock Star Summer Session
We had a rock star one-on-one session this summer! 22 individuals participated in tutoring and/or speech this summer, with 30 sessions scheduled each week. At the end of the session, we gathered for a special Tutor Talk to celebrate and thank our amazing volunteer tutors. Over dinner, they shared their...
Ways to Support Grief
Grief and Down Syndrome: Understanding and Support Grief isn’t something most people like to talk about—but it’s something a few of our families are facing right now. Several in our community have recently lost loved ones, and we want to take this moment to shed light on how grief can...
July 2025 Best of All
The highlights below are just a few of the #bestofall moments we witnessed during July. Participant Best of All Our best of all spotlight this month goes to our young friends in Destination Discovery: Sports! During this four-week program, our friends learned to play different playground and gym-class games. They...
Why GiGi’s One-on-One Programs?
Exceptional Programs at No Cost At GiGi’s Playhouse, all programs are offered completely free of charge to families—but that doesn’t mean they’re free for us to provide. While “free” is sometimes associated with lower quality, that couldn’t be further from the truth at GiGi’s. Take our Amina Grace Speech &...
Welcome Nathan Bates – New Executive Director
Back in January, we shared the news that our beloved Site Director, Pam Lynch, would be stepping back after nine incredible years of leadership. (If you missed it, you can read the “This is Not Goodbye!” blog post linked here.) Since then, our team has been hard at work searching...