Specially Gifted Foundation Q3 2023 Recap
Can you believe we are already in Q3? This year is flying by, but we’ve enjoyed the adventures it has brung so far. During this last quarter, we had a chance to focus on our community more and plan for next quarter’s events. We have been busy making new connections and fulfilling our mission in the most special ways. To be a part of this journey means you will never not know you are having an impact. Not only are you enriching the lives of families caring for children with disabilities, but you are also changing the lives of many others (including yourself). Let’s look at how you’ve done just that in this Specially Gifted Foundation Q3 recap!
Specially Gifted foundation Family Photoshoot Day
Whether you are a digital album or handheld photo album kind of person (or both), photos with loved ones are meant to be cherished. It is amazing how a moment full of emotions and memories can be captured in a single frame. Anytime I flip through photos, each one will trigger a play-by-play of all the minutes leading up to the very second the shot was taken and those that followed; it’s like pressing play on a picture.
Providing a sense of community to the families we serve may be one of the harder parts of our mission to measure on paper, but it’s also one of the funnest and most rewarding to experience and share with our SGF families and community.
Our founders wanted to create a space for our families to all come together and make memories. So, we decided a family photoshoot would be the perfect way to do this.
During the last weekend of July, we met with ten of our SGF Gifted Families to hold a family photoshoot. Something even more special occurred during this time that we didn’t anticipate during the planning process.
As families showed up and had their photos taken, we witnessed fellowship. Parents were swapping stories, sharing resources, and connecting with one another. Our adored SGF kiddos were meeting one another, most for the first time and interacting in their very own special ways. Between the tears and the laughter, we were all an emotional mess. Most of all, we were reminded yet again of the many ways we are all so blessed!
Families continued to thank our team for making this event possible, but we are the ones that cannot thank them enough for letting us in. Getting to know these families and be a part of their lives past the initial Gifting is one of the many things that makes SGF so special.
Speaking of thanks, SGF owes a huge thanks to Lee and Dixie Bagley, owners of The Farm in Rome, Georgia, for donating their beautiful venue for this event. Another special thanks goes to Brittany Marche Harrison, owner of B Marche Photography for spending an evening with us and capturing the countless precious memories with our SGF families.
In addition to their family photos, we also had the opportunity to have our SGF families model some SGF merchandise! We may be biased, but we could not have chosen better models.
Thank you again to these sweet families for making the trip and spending an evening with our team. We will forever cherish the memories made that day and look forward to hosting this annual family event year after year!
Specially Gifted Foundation Networking
In addition to planning for Q4 events, our founders have been busy this quarter making new connections within our communities. SGF has been a proud member of the Rome Floyd Chamber of Commerce for almost two years, and earlier this year we joined the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.
In August, SGF attended a Business After Hours event held by the Cobb Chamber. As Macey and Bree networked, they reveled in every chance to share SGF with other businesses from the Cobb community. These connections will better SGF and serve our mission by spreading awareness and create opportunities for more community involvement.
Chamber events are a wonderful way to interact with other business professionals and learn more about what the ways everyone is giving back to their community. SGF is honored to be a part of these two incredibly supportive chambers.
New Community Partnerships
Co-founder, Macey, met with local State Farm agent Melissa Eldridge and her team this quarter. Melissa’s team interviewed Macey at the end of June and featured the interview in their Small Business Sunday collection. This was another wonderful opportunity to shine a light on SGF and our mission.
Melissa and her team expressed an eagerness to get involved in SGF and future local events. We are beyond grateful for this connection and the chance to be a part of Small Business Sunday!
Our Rome community recently welcomed a new nonprofit, The Children’s Museum of Rome. Founder, Jenna Bosarge, and her family have been long-time supporters of SGF. Jenna also contributes to our Therapy Thursday series. So, when she announced her new nonprofit, we jumped at the chance to meet with her.
Macey and Jenna both shared some behind the scenes of running a nonprofit and discovered some really amazing ways that The Children’s Museum of Rome and SGF can serve our local communities.
This is another reason why relationships are so important. We are blessed to have Jenna and her family be so involved with our mission and cannot wait to support and celebrate her on this new journey. Stay tuned to learn more about what this relationship means for SGF.
That’s a Wrap for Q3 2023!
Our SGF community pours so much love and support into our organization, and this makes it possible for SGF to pour back into the families we serve. Being able to host the first SGF family photoshoot was an experience our team will forever be grateful for. Because of the unwavering support from our community and the generosity of those that made this day possible, these families now have these wonderful keepsakes to look back on and cherish with their loved ones.
From community events to community partnerships, SGF thrives when we all come together to make a difference. We hope that you are just as excited to share your WHY for being involved with SGF as we are to share your commitment to our mission with the special families we serve. Thank you for being a part of the SGF community!
What is Specially Gifted Foundation doing in q4?
Second Annual SGF Golf Tournament
Specially Gifted Gala 2023
Giving Tuesday Campaign
NEW community partnerships
Giftings and so much more!
DON'T MISS OUR NEXT EVENT
Recent Posts
- 2024 Fall Events in Georgia for Families and Children with Disabilities September 11, 2024
- Emergency Preparedness Resource for Floyd County Families with Disabilities August 14, 2024
- Specially Gifted Foundation Q2 2024 Recap July 18, 2024
- Impacts of Synthetic Dyes: Interview with Whitney Cawood July 18, 2024
- Specially Gifted Foundation Q1 2024 Recap June 11, 2024
By Andrea Silvers
Andrea Silvers grew up in Rome, Georgia. She currently resides in Calhoun, Georgia with her husband and their son. Growing up with special needs siblings brought Andrea to SGF where she takes pride in her role as the Community Relations Director.