Summer Snack Drive

My journey with GiGi’s Playhouse Sugar Land started when I was a freshman in college and looking to volunteer more. I remember looking up places to volunteer on Google and out of the 50+ I found, GiGi’s Playhouse stood out the most because of their mission to empower individuals with Down syndrome. When I entered the playhouse the first time, I knew right away that it was the perfect match for me because everyone was so incredibly kind and warm. I also felt monumentally happy after empowering the children with Down syndrome that participated in the program I was leading. Even with my busy college schedule, I kept coming back to volunteer. 

After lazing around this summer and being bored for months,  I decided I wanted to make an impact in the community and help others. My first thought was to start a collection drive, and my second thought was “Why not help out GiGi’s Playhouse? They’re so kind!” So I called GiGi’s and asked them what kind of items they needed, and they said they would love healthy snacks to give to the participants during programs.

From there, the fun started. I made a flyer detailing the kinds of snacks that GiGi’s wanted, and I sent it to my Facebook community, went door to door in my neighborhood asking people to donate and reached out to close friends and family for help. When I drove to GiGi’s Playhouse and gave them the snacks, the staff was shocked with how many snacks I collected. I got tons of thank yous and was told I should be very proud of myself. I was especially touched by one kind mother of an adult with Down syndrome, who hugged me and told me that I had no idea how much my snack drive means to them.  Of course, those compliments were amazing, but what meant the world to me was helping an organization like GiGi’s Playhouse who empowers individuals with Down syndrome. 

 It was an absolute honor to help out and I would love to do even more in the future! At the end of the day, the people who deserve the most praise are the kind people who donated the snacks, because this drive would not have been successful if it was not for the awesome people in my community who donated. The drive not only helped GiGi’s, but it also helped me because I learned one very important lesson during these past two weeks: perseverance.  I got a lot of rejections throughout the process of asking people for donations, and although it discouraged me a lot, I knew that if I didn’t persevere, I wouldn’t get anywhere. So I did not give up and continued to find donors, and if it wasn’t for my perseverance I would not have collected as many snacks as I did. I also learned that not every gesture has to be grand or gigantic to create a positive change. Even something as simple as giving a compliment to someone or smiling at a random person can change the world.