Saluting our valued Volunteers!

April was National Volunteer Month and we feel so grateful to be blessed with so many amazing volunteers supporting GiGi’s Playhouse San Diego! It does take a village to work towards wonderful and purposeful programs.

Even though we are unable to come together at our Playhouse, we have been fortunate enough to continue providing programs online and are thrilled to see the smiling faces of our families!

In the last couple of weeks, we went Virtual!

Music Therapy Program (Virtual)

We have had over 20 Music Therapy programs combined through our local Playhouse and through our National network, having hundreds of families log in from San Diego and all over the USA. Our wonderful and awesome music teachers (Lindsay, Allison & Emily) from Resounding Joy Inc in San Diego, CA, have been bringing a lot of smiles, songs and dances to many families across all GiGi’s Playhouses. Their commitment and dedication have brought countless hours of joyful moments to kids of all ages! We feel so honored to join forces with them as well as share their great talents with the rest of GiGi’s families!

Fantastic Friends (Virtual)

We also had a great time with our adult program, Fantastic Friends. Thanks to our wonderful volunteer, Marisol  Castro, we had some fun times while we connected online this month. “Growing up with a sister that has special needs, I have always been fortunate enough to experience the pure hearts of gifted individuals around me. After I moved to San Diego, I always felt that there was something missing from my life. Thankfully, I discovered Fantastic Friends and was welcomed with open arms! I could not be happier that I am lucky enough to spend my time with these brilliant adults, they have all brought me such happiness and showed me a thing or two about karaoke!” – Marisol Castro.

Sharing the screen with Fantastic Friends!

LMNOP (Virtual)

We also had to privilege to have our amazing LMNOP program. Were we had a book reading, singing with some sign language and shared helpful tips to parents. We want to give a special thanks to MEBE  for partnering with GiGi’s San Diego. LMNOP is an interactive and engaging program designed to guide parents and young children through learning basic sign language and other forms of communication using music and language-based activities.

Destination Discovery (Virtual)

It was very nice to see some friends joining for Destination Discovery and doing the *Hungry Caterpillar* activity with playdoh, toilet paper tub, twist ties, etc.  Thank  you Liza Winslow for stepping up and virtually volunteering to bring this program to our families. “Destination Discovery was the first program we launched at Gigi’s San Diego exactly 2 years ago! The kids have gotten creative with various craft activities to enhance their fine motor skills.” – Liza Winslow

Sharing the screen @ Destination Discovery!

Special Education Seminar (Virtual)

We had over 35 families who participated and asked questions during this special education seminar about Navigating the Special Education Landscape in Light of School Closures & Uncertainty. We are thankful to join forces with ABA 360, Ashley Parton Advocacy, San Diego Educational Services, Law Offices of Schwartz & Storey and April Villafana Advocacy.

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We couldn’t forget some of our amazing Literacy Volunteers!

Jeri Gurley is our Literacy Coordinator and she is a tremendous help and gives so much of her time to GiGi’s! We can’t say enough about her positive spirit and her kind heart.  She goes above and beyond and leads our Kids Club and offers to help constantly!

“Gigi’s Literacy Program San Diego, under the caring direction of Jeri Gurley has taken tutoring to a new level! Literacy is my passion, and I just love working with children so when I heard that Gigi’s was starting their literacy program, I jumped onboard! I have found purpose and satisfaction in all the various aspects of tutoring.” -Anita Berk, Literacy volunteer

And we celebrated our Birthday #2!

See the letter of our president

Thanks to All our wonderful and amazing volunteers, we couldn’t have done all these purposeful programs without you!

And thanks to All the families who have been participating in all the GiGi’s virtual programs!

Thank You!!!