We are pleased to share the highlights and successes of Specially Gifted Foundation’s second quarter of 2024 in this recap post. From the Spring in the Valley Festival to new gifting announcements and community partnerships, we are grateful for the support and impact we have been able to make together.
Read on to learn more about the incredible moments and connections that have strengthened our mission of benefiting families caring for children with disabilities.
Spring in the Valley Festival 2024
Spring in the Valley 2024 was a tremendous success with our highest year for attendance yet, bringing together our community for a day filled with joy, inclusivity, and giving back. This event is not only a fundraising event, but also our biggest community event.
Our theme, “Peace, Love, and SGF”, truly set the stage for an inviting atmosphere, bringing everyone together to celebrate the impact we create together all while having a groovy time.
One of the highlights of this event every year is the SGF Kids Game Booth, where children of all abilities can enjoy sensory-friendly activities and crafts. This space also makes it possible for typical children to play right alongside children with disabilities, helping to break down those barriers and allowing them to see that at the end of the day they are “just kids”. We realize in most school settings these kids are separated from each other, so we are grateful for the opportunity to help bring them together.
Some of the new additions to this booth this year include sponge-painting and a tie-dye station. These two activities were born from our theme of Peace, Love, and SGF. The tie-dye station provided kids with the opportunity to tie-dye a pair of socks in honor of World Syndrome Day.
This activity was a hit this year, allowing kids to showcase their creativity and take home a unique souvenir from the day.
It was a great pleasure to partner with The Children’s Museum of Rome (CMOR) this year. Their incredible team presented an art show featuring artwork from local students, adding even more creativity and inspiration to the event.
Jenna Bosarge, President of CMOR, and other members from the CMOR team connected with local art teachers from schools across Floyd County. They did an incredible job running the art show and we hope the artists had as much fun creating their masterpieces as we did admiring their creativity.
Per usual, Blake Alvey and his team at Automax of Rome went above and beyond at our Spring in the Valley Car and Bike Show. Bringing in over 40 participants (this was the highest participation we’ve had to date) to showcase their pride and joy for all to see and judge, the car added greatly to the success of the event.
We are forever grateful to Blake and Automax of Rome for their continued sponsorship and commitment to SGF.
Our fourth annual SIV was filled with some incredible local food and beverage trucks, local artists, musicians, and businesses showcasing their talents and products. There was also great fun to be had by everyone. Aside from the SGF Kids Game Booth, there was a trackless train, rock climbing wall, jumping house inflatable, bubble house, petting zoo, face painting, hoverball (inflatable archery activity), and so much more.
How is it possible we had this much fun all while raising crucial funds to support families caring for children with disabilities? Because SGF strives to give back to the incredible community that chooses to give back to SGF.
As our team reflected on the highlights from this event, one of the most heartwarming moments was seeing the growing number of Gifted Families in attendance. SIV not only brought together families who have benefited from SGF’s mission but also connected new families who can benefit from the resources and support provided by SGF.
Each year, this event spreads throughout the community of those with disabilities where we are able to welcome and connect with so many more families, special education teachers, therapists and more who touch this community. We could have never imagined how the word would spread through this community like it does every year.
Speaking of Gifted Families… SGF’s team and fundraising committee went into this event with a goal of gifting 2 families from the Northwest Georgia region. Thanks to everyone that supported SIV 2024, SGF welcomed Serenity’s family and Laithen’s family.
For everyone that volunteers, sponsors, donates, and visits this event, the impact from their generous support continues well past SIV. Speaking of volunteers, we had more volunteers this year than we ever have at SIV. Two major groups making up our volunteers were Leadership of Rome and Floyd Springs Baptist Church. Thanks to two very generous donations from Coca-Cola of Rome and Truett’s Chick-fil-A of Rome, our volunteers were able to enjoy CFA for lunch and Coca-Cola beverages.
Every show of support spreads awareness, thereby shining a light on the special community in need and directing those with a passion for doing good to SGF’s mission.
Discover more about SIV’s impact by reading our post-event post, Spring in the Valley 2024: Recap and Highlights.
New Gifting Announcements + Experiences
SGF Gifts Serenity’s Family
Serenity was born prematurely along with her twin sister Sadie, and both spent months in the NICU. Despite facing challenges early on, Serenity showed resilience and determination to overcome obstacles. She was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy but continues to defy the odds, bringing joy and light to wherever she goes.
Serenity’s family needed a reliable vehicle to accommodate her wheelchair and equipment for therapy visits. Thanks to SIV 2024, this gifting was made possible!
SGF Gifts Laithen’s Family
Sarah and her husband have adopted 4 children with special needs, including their son Laithen. Laithen has dysgenesis of the corpus callosum, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy. Over the years, he has made progress in many areas of his daily life and activities. No diagnosis can hold him back from being a sweet and happy child who is always on the move.
His family was in need of a new large Rifton activity chair for feeding and to support Laithen’s needs. We are blessed to have made this gifting possible through SIV 2024!
Leland and His Family Visit Dollywood
Leland and his family were gifted at the end of 2023, but part of their gifting could not take place until June 2024. He has spent many months of the year enjoying his playset gifted by SGF, and this love for playing outside was also shining bright during their trip to Dollywood Splash Country this summer.
While visiting the park, Leland’s mother shared photos and expressed her thanks again to SGF and everyone who made their gifting possible.
Community Partnerships
IMPACT Nonprofit Alliance April Quarterly Meeting
Specially Gifted Foundation reaps many benefits from being a Rome Floyd Chamber member. One of the recent benefits was attending the IMPACT Nonprofit Alliance Quarterly Meeting, sponsored by Advent Health Redmond.
The chamber hosts this meeting to provide members with an opportunity to connect and develop while also participating in a WinShape Teams Lead Others & SERVE Model presentation. The focus for this quarterly meeting was for WinShape Teams to facilitate discussions on challenges of a nonprofit leader that will help to navigate the leader’s journey as well.
SGF’s Community Relations Director, Andrea, is grateful for the opportunity to learn from speaker, Jesse Parish with WinShape Teams, about the essence of leadership. We are happy to share some of the key takeaways below:
→ Leadership is the stewardship of our influence
→ The best leaders are those who are servant minded
→ A great leader is compelled by the unshakeable desire to enrich the lives of others
Events like this are full of opportunities for growth, to network, and to learn ways to better serve our local communities. We always look forward to being a part of chamber events and especially enjoy the nonprofit sector focused events such as these.
North Georgia Autism Center
It was an honor to welcome North Georgia Autism Center (NGAC) to our set of resource and nonprofit vendors at SIV 2024. Soon to follow the event, Bethany Oliver Craig M.ED, BCBA reached out from their organization to hear how they can support our mission.
Bethany also shared their sister nonprofit, Children’s Autism Foundation (CAF), with us on our call. She is the founder and CEO and her spouse is the VP. We are thankful for this connection with both organizations and look forward to building resources and serving our communities together.
Connecting with Academy ABA
Academy ABA was another resourceful vendor at SIV 2024 we were fortunate to collaborate with after the event. We connected with Michelle Burger-Rains, Director of Assessment and Staff Development, to share more about SGF and discuss ways we could collaborate.
This is another relationship we hope to build on for years to come. Michelle and the team at Academy are eager to share SGF with potentially eligible families and provide us with resources to share with families we serve.
The majority of these connections were born from Spring in the Valley Festival. This fact makes us love this annual event even more. Relationships such as these provide testament to how SIV is fulfilling a goal of growing our reach into the community, making it possible for other organizations to get involved with our mission.
Let’s Keep the Momentum of SGF’s Impact Going
As we reflect on the second quarter of 2024, we are grateful for the support of our community and the impact we have been able to make together. Every donation, volunteer hour, and act of kindness has contributed to the success of our organization and the well-being of the families we serve.
We look forward to continuing our mission of providing special gifts and opportunities, beneficial resources, and a sense of community to families caring for children with disabilities.
Thank you for being a part of the SGF Community. Together, we are making a difference.
What is Happening in Q3 2024?
Third Annual Specially Gifted Golf Tournament
NEW Gifted Families
Event detail reveals for Specially Gifted Gatsby Gala coming in Q4
…and MORE!
