Each quarter, we are presented with the greatest opportunity to share the highlights and success stories from the previous quarter. In this post, we have some incredible moments to celebrate, such as our long awaited SGF Gifted Families Community Group, a connection that turned into an impactful interview and resource, new partnerships and giftings, and more. It is our hope that you see what it’s like to be a part of Specially Gifted Foundation in the latest series of our quarterly recap blogs.
SGF Gifted Families Community Group
We hear from the families we serve all the time expressing their desire to connect with other families, whether it be to share their experiences, seek and share resources, vent, or for fellowship. Making friends is hard enough as an adult and parent. Moms and dads have shared stories where they express the exhaustion they experience trying to build and/or maintain relationships with other parents that can’t relate to their journey.
Although they love and value these friendships, sometimes they just need a place where they know the other parents have some idea of where they are coming from. At SGF, we believe all of the relationships and friendships above are healthy, and we want to help in any way we can.
Thanks to the endless features of our CRM, we were able to create a space for our SGF Gifted Families to connect in a private community group. We know that not everyone uses social media platforms, so we wanted to think outside the box of Facebook groups and other platform pages.
If we had it our way, we would host events every month for the families we serve. Maybe one day that will become a reality, but in the meantime, it was important to our team that we create a path for them to be able to connect outside of SGF and SGF events.
We strive to share every part of SGF with our community, and that’s why we are so thrilled to share updates like this so you can get a deeper understanding of the impact you are helping us create in our community of families caring for children with disabilities.
Impacts of Synthetic Dyes: SGF Interviews Whitney Cawood
On July 1st, SGF had the great pleasure of interviewing one of the producers of To Dye For: The Documentary, Whitney Cawood. In this interview we learned more about Whitney, Brandon, her husband and fellow producer, and their son’s journey with synthetic dyes and the risks associated with consuming them.
As a nonprofit serving families caring for children with disabilities, we knew that this connection could serve as a resource to our community. Our team knows several children that are medically fragile or have some kind of disability that are prescribed medications containing synthetic dyes.
It’s bad enough that these dyes are often found in many of the foods we consume daily, but also in life saving medication such as antiepileptics. Research states that these dyes can cause neurological issues in children and adults, but there’s also many other risks involved.
Brandon and Whitney’s research lead them to meet with scientists, doctors, senators, school boards, and parents in other countries and all across the US. Throughout their research, Whitney said one of the first shocks she encountered was learning in 1990, the FDA concluded red 3 caused cancer after tests on animals provided evidence.
The FDA reacted and banned the use of red 3 in cosmetics and dermally applied drugs, but it was already on the permanently approved list for food. They said they would get around to it, yet here we are over three decades later and it’s still in food and medication.
Whitney said making this documentary was a hard decision because she knew the path would be challenging and would come with countless obstacles.
In spite of financial concerns and other fears associated with filming this documentary, she and Brandon knew that their testimony was not only one and that God put it on their hearts for a reason.
The great news is that the documentary will be released in January 2025!
They have done an incredible job making this film easy to understand and entertaining, while trying to get as much content in as possible with as many experts as possible. Their mission is to educate others on synthetic dyes and spark change.
While you wait on the film’s release, there are several ways you can make a difference now. We listed several ways to get involved and how to access valuable resources, such as safe swaps for dye-free foods and products, in our blog post from our interview. You can also sign-up for their newsletter to receive resources via email.
Celebrating Partnerships and Birthdays
It’s no surprise that SGF loves birthdays, but what we love even more is celebrating our SGF kiddos’ birthdays. Planning a birthday party can be stressful under any circumstances, but it does become more challenging when you have a child with disabilities.
Options for venues, food selection, activities, and even your guest list can be overwhelming for parents and their child(ren).
SGF is proud to see more venues coming up with ways to be more accessible and for the generosity of parents who share their experiences and creative design behind creating a safe and fun party for everyone to enjoy.
One of these venues that we are absolutely in love with is The Sweet Cocoon in Rome, Georgia. SGF first partnered with them three years ago for an inclusive and accessible Halloween event, which then turned into an annual event.
This partnership stemmed from attending Parker’s birthday party at this location, which is wheelchair accessible, features adult changing tables, and has swings and activities for children with disabilities, and much more.
Fast forward to August 2024. Another birthday and another incredible partnership.
Earlier this year, Frios Gourmet Pops of Rome, Georgia reached out to our team and wanted to help one of our SGF kiddos celebrate their birthday. We provided them a list of local kiddos with upcoming birthdays. When we learned they chose Parker, we were so happy for him and his family.
Frios donated their time and a $100 credit towards their services, which equals 20 gourmet pops. They even brought a birthday gift to Parker, which was a sweet surprise.
Parker, his family, and all of SGF are thankful for Frios and their generous donation. It’s a beautiful thing when other organizations unite over our mission and seek out opportunities to bring a little extra special joy to these precious children and their families.
Going back to mom’s getting creative with party ideas. Parker’s mom, Casey, is definitely one of those we can always count on for inspiration.
This year’s theme was “Create & Celebrate” and featured a painting station where all the kids could paint their own small canvas to take home with them (and they also got their very own painting apron to keep). From his birthday cake to the decor, everything was just as colorful as Parker’s personality – which we LOVE!
SGF is always grateful to Parker and his family for including us in their life’s celebrations.
On September 16, 2024, we hosted our Third Annual Specially Gifted Golf Tournament. This annual event brings golf enthusiasts together to support SGF’s mission. Our team looks forward to this event each year, as it is a great way to celebrate challenges on and off the course.
This year’s tournament was held at the beautiful Horseshoe Bend Country Club, a premier golf course in Roswell, Georgia known for its scenic beauty and challenging fairways.
Players expressed their admiration for the landscapes and course design throughout the day, which made our team feel even better about our course selection. Not to mention, the weather could not have been more perfect.
Our team is always grateful for everyone who comes out to support our mission at this annual event, whether as a player, volunteer, or sponsor. It’s their commitment and generosity that makes our golf tournaments a success, making it possible to continue on with our mission.
On the note of commitment and generosity, we have to recognize one of our top supporters in Amwins and their incredible team. Amwins has been with SGF since the beginning and always shows up for SGF events and gives back to our cause.
SGF Board Member Andrew Lanham is also a member of the Amwins team. We are very grateful to him for fostering this relationship over the years and connecting their passion to our mission.
Amwins choosing to sponsor our golf tournament three years in a row is a testament to their commitment to giving back to the community and specifically to the lives of families who have children with disabilities through Specially Gifted Foundation.
Specially Gifted Foundation’s Q3 2024 Giftings
Meet Alyannah and her family! Alyannah was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when she was only 5 years old. Her condition has caused significant muscle weakness, making daily life activities a challenge. She has not let this stop her from pursuing the things she loves. Ally is very creative and enjoys playing the piano, singing, dancing, and drawing.
Earlier this year, Ally test rode an adaptive tricycle from Freedom Concepts during one of her therapy sessions. She loved the experience and felt like it would give her another outlet to exercise and use motor skills, so her mom reached out to SGF to ask for help getting Ally her own adaptive tricycle.
Often when we think of getting a child a tricycle, we imagine spending no more than a couple hundred dollars at a local store. However, that is not the case for families in need of adaptive bicycles and tricycles, and unfortunately insurance does not cover them. These items can cost upwards of $5,000.
Families caring for children with disabilities face enough challenges along the way, and any parent or caretaker can understand the pain and feeling of failure when you cannot provide for your child. That never stops them from fighting, advocating, and providing the best life for their children.
It is a true blessing to be even a small part of these families’ unique journeys and help them however we can, and we love it even more when we connect with other organizations that go above and beyond to do the same.
We always love working with Freedom Concepts and cannot wait to see photos of Ally enjoying her new Freedom Concepts tricycle that was just delivered the first week of November.
Meet Theo and his family! Theo’s challenges began early on in life. His mom began experiencing trouble when she was only 26 weeks pregnant when she learned Theo’s femurs were not growing. At almost 38 weeks, she welcomed her 6lb 1oz baby boy.
Theo was born with a fever and signs of infection. The complications did not end there. From spitting up blood and blood clots to cardiac arrest and a lumbar puncture, he was found to have viral meningitis.
Theo continued to face obstacles along the way.
After having a MIC-KEY button, seizure at 9 months old, signs of regression, neurologist appointments, extensive blood work and genetic testing, and several unanswered questions Theo was found to have central and obstructive sleep apnea, hypotonia, misfiring in his central nervous system, vision issues, and an unknown genetic disorder.
His mom expressed that in spite of everything he has endured, he faces life with a smile. He loves being outside and adores Mickey Mouse.
Disney does a great job at creating a joyful experience for people of all ages and abilities, so we are thrilled to gift Theo and his family a trip to Disney which they will take at the beginning of 2025.
Meet Harper and her family! Harper is the youngest of 4 kids. Her parents said while she’s the most complex child they have when it comes to medical needs, in many ways she is the easiest kid in the world to be a parent to. Harper is always happy, never defiant, does not talk back, and gives unconditional love and grace.
Life for Harper started out very rocky and full of uncertainties.
Harper’s mom Jami began experiencing pain halfway through their trip to the hospital for their scheduled induction. After arriving and getting hooked up to monitors, they quickly realized the problem was much worse than they expected as they could not find a heartbeat.
Zach, Harper’s dad, was told to sit and wait. After what he describes as an eternity in silence, a nurse came to him fighting back tears only to tell him they did all they could and were then working on his wife.
“I had a very broken conversation with God for an unknown amount of time as it seemed like time itself had stopped. How do I deal with losing a child? How do I face life without my wife?”
He then heard another set of footsteps running down the hall. The nurse said his wife was stable and they had a heartbeat on the baby. He knew then a real-world miracle had happened.
From EEGs, sleepless nights, seizures, endless testing and medications, a feeding tube, a trach, VNS implants, countless therapy visits and specialist’s visits, so many adaptive splints and devices for her body, and so much more, Harper smiles through it all.
Her parents have embraced the chance to let Harper experience adventure and push past her limits. They wanted to look for ways to get her out into the world to experience life but needed a safe way to do that.
Jami and Zach worked tirelessly to raise funds for a handicap accessible vehicle and SGF is grateful to have been a helping hand in making that happen for this sweet little girl and her family.
Let’s Keep Building Together
We hope you love these quarterly recaps as much as we do. Every time we begin to recap and reflect on the previous quarter, we are amazed at the blessing we are living by being able to do the work we do.
SGF is so much more than gifting families, but that doesn’t mean the gifting part of our mission is not a powerhouse because it is.
Being able to provide crucial resources and build a strong and supportive community for the families we serve is a great honor. We would not be able to do any of this without our supportive community.
Let’s keep building our impact, together, and reaching more families in need of our program and services. Thank you for being here! We look forward to continuing to serve and advocate for families caring for children with disabilities.
What to expect in Q4 2024?
Specially Gifted Gatsby Gala
NEW Gifted Families
Giving Tuesday Campaign
…and MORE!
