Be The Change : A Message from Nancy

Hello All! October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month and is another chance to spread awareness, advocacy and inclusion throughout the community! At GiGi’s we celebrate individuals with Down syndrome and make people aware of their abilities and accomplishments everyday!

But it is hard to celebrate when our friends with disabilities are being disrespected or even worse, bullied and beaten. Here is an excerpt from a recent Facebook post I wrote. (I cleaned it up for your viewing pleasure!)

I usually don’t use this forum for a rant, but I cannot stay on the sidelines. I am sickened by these videos on social media showing kids with special needs being beat up and/or having horrible pranks pulled on them. When the last disgusting video was streaming, GiGi and I were travelling to an opening of a new playhouse. Had we not been, I would have been camping out at that police station in the town where the video was shot until someone was held accountable. Luckily Drew Carey stepped in and pledged $10k for the names of the kids who did this and they were caught, although sadly not prosecuted. At the very least those kids need to publicly apologize, along with their parents. There needs to be accountability and a STRONG stand showing how wrong this is!! 

I saw another video a couple days ago of a kid with special needs being beat up. The offenders are starting to get smart and are not posting the origin the videos.I do not have $10k to pledge for names but I do have a big mouth! If I can find the origin of that video I AM going to that town and making people accountable. This cannot become a trend! Our kids cannot be sacrificed for some social media attention!! Rant done, but our mission to see a world where individuals with Down syndrome, or any special need, are accepted and embraced in their families, schools, and communities. 

So sorry but this truly sickens me and it cannot continue. Not on my watch! 

Coincidentally, October is also Bullying Prevention Month. So let’s band together to make sure our friends are safe and respected in our communities.

GiGi Fest is the perfect way to tell the world we are here and we are proud. Come party with us and have your voice be heard – They can’t take us all on! Another way to help is to support our store. In fact, we just had an order for 250 holiday mugs from one of our corporate donors! What a great way to send a message of acceptance and hope!

One more thing! GiGi’s BFF and our GiGi Fest sponsor, Vince Foglia will help us kick off the festivities at Gigi Fest! A special thank you to to Vince, Pat and the Foglia Family Foundation.

XOXOXO

Nancy and GiGi