GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge 2025 – Amazing!

Our annual GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge run, walk, and Kids Dash was incredible! Even the rain didn’t stop us!

GiGIFIT Acceptance Challenge Highlights:

• 7 Mighty Teams
• The top three teams showed incredible resilience, battling for the top spot until the last moment. Their determination was truly inspiring. Team OVI Edward’s incredible effort secured a whopping $5000 donation with just two days to go, demonstrating the power of collective fundraising.
• 15+ Volunteers
• The winner of the run was one of our participants’ brothers (pictured below). Fantastic job, Blake! He set out to win and achieved his goal. Good luck with your school’s track team!
• We reached 65% of our fundraising goal, and we are still fundraising until the end of July – help us reach 100%! Donate today!

Many people deserve a shout-out for making this event possible!

Volunteers – A HUGE thank you to the Tsetsekos Family for their continuous support and for organizing this event. Every year, Irene, her husband, and children spend a great deal of time and effort to make it spectacular! This year, we had more challenge stations, a longer route, and more volunteers helping on the day! Thank you to everyone who made this day possible!

Family Engagement Committee – Thank you for putting together a Father’s Day-themed raffle basket that raised over $150 alone! Congratulations to the winner, Rick!

Sponsors – Thank you to Olde Village Inne in Nyack for being our t-shirt sponsor; your continued generosity and support of our mission are greatly appreciated.

Supporters – Thank you to the following people and places for their generous in-kind donations:

• The Boulders Baseball Team
• DJ Seth
• Nyack Hot Bagels and Deli

Runners, Walkers, and Dashers – Thank YOU for registering to participate. We hope you had a wonderful time! Don’t forget to wear your event shirts with pride and continue to spread awareness and acceptance in your communities.

What is the GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge?

For those of you who did not participate this year or are unsure what this event is about. The GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge is a run, walk, and dash – that brings people together to raise awareness, acknowledge, and support the challenges in the Down syndrome community. It’s a peer-to-peer fundraiser, a fun and inclusive event that the entire community can attend!

We look forward to our 2026 GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge, where we aim to achieve our ambitious goals of having 15 teams participate and raise $32,100 to directly fund our Playhouse and the free therapeutic, educational, and career development programs GiGi’s Playhouse Westchester provides to our participants and communities.

How to Support us? 

There are three main ways you can support GiGi’s Playhouse Westchester and become a GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge Champion: 

1. Attend an Event: Look out for the 2026 Date announcement! Whether you create your own GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge team or join an existing team, you can help us raise awareness and funds by signing up and inviting your network to join you! 
2. Donate: If you cannot attend a GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge event, you can still support yourself by making a monetary donation. Please donate to our GIGIFIT Acceptance Challenge 2025 Campaign. The money we raise from the GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge allows us to continue providing 100% free programming to the Down syndrome community and their families. 
3. Sponsorship: If you’re a local or national business, you can support our GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge by becoming a sponsor! Whether you wish to sponsor at the regional or national level, you can partner with GiGi’s Playhouse as we work to facilitate understanding, build free programming, and create a more accepting world through the GiGiFIT Acceptance Challenge! Sponsorships for 2026 will be announced shortly!