Participants Supporting Participants
The End of a Session Celebration is a big deal around GiGi’s Playhouse! It’s a time to celebrate achievements and Best of Alls of not only our participants but also tutors and program leaders enrolled in our GiGiFIT, GiGi’s Kitchen, and one-on-one literacy or math tutoring programs.
But, for the Virtual Playhouse, there was a challenge! We wanted to send certificates of achievement to over 100 participants. As you can imagine, this is a huge job for one person – our Site Manager, Nicolette Moinet – from a home office! Thankfully, GiGi’s Playhouse Raleigh and the Virtual Playhouse had started a partnership earlier this year, and Nicolette had been visiting the Raleigh playhouse regularly.
When Nicolette shared about the upcoming celebration and over 100 certificates that needed to be sent throughout the USA and even worldwide (to Japan!!), Becky Timblin, Raleigh’s Adult Program Manager, had an idea. Together, our two playhouses could get the job done while supporting one of Raleigh’s local career development programs: GiGi Prep. GiGi Prep is a program in which participants learn job skills such as money management, customer service skills, team building, and more. This mailing project was a perfect opportunity to learn and apply new skills.
Over the course of two days, the Raleigh GiGiPrep students worked closely with the Virtual and Raleigh staff to stuff and address all the envelopes! The Prep students saved the day! Nicolette walked out of the Raleigh Playhouse both with a heart full of gratitude and arms full of envelopes.
This collaboration truly exemplifies many Best of Alls!
- Virtual participants completed their Spring programs.
- Raleigh participants learned new job skills and supported their peers by preparing certificates of achievement!
- Playhouses partnering with other playhouses!
Our GiGi’s Network is mighty and the value of having relationships with other playhouses is undeniable. We all believe in this mission, and together, are changing the way the world views Down syndrome one day at a time.
The end of session Virtual End of Session Celebration was a huge success, and it wouldn’t have happened without the hard work and collaboration of the GiGi Prep students and the Raleigh team.
Thank you, Raleigh team and GiGi Prep students! You are so very appreciated.
Relationship Building for a Global Community
Providing us with a sense of belonging, support, and shared purpose, communities are sources of friendship, identity, and mutual aid. The Virtual Playhouse was formed with a goal of providing opportunities and a virtual platform for people to come together, regardless of geographic boundaries, to exchange ideas, seek advice, and foster meaningful relationships. Virtual Community Groups and…
Messages of Peace from Our Community – Maggie
Our Virtual Playhouse volunteer, Maggie, started her journey with GiGi’s Playhouse in the spring of 2022. She learned about the volunteer opportunity through our collaborative partner, Back Bake America, who has a mission to perform acts of kindness and empower others to pay that kindness forward. “When I learned about GiGi’s Playhouse and their mission…
Acceptance and Achieving Goals – Jeremiah
This past year, Jeremiah (Jeremy) has been participating in GiGi’s Virtual Playhouse programming including 1-on-1 Math Tutoring, Down to Dance, and GiGi’s Kitchen Adult. In May, Jeremy and his family were also active participants in the GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge – Virtual Movement – raising acceptance in the community and funds to support Virtual Playhouse programming.…