Chicago Automobile Trade Association Donates $1,500 to GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park      

CHICAGO (Nov. 19, 2019) - The Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA), Chicagoland's new-car dealer association, donated $1,500 to GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park, a local charity that delivers purposeful programming to families with Down syndrome. The CATA's donation came in conjunction with Community Honda of Orland Park and the Chicagoland Dealers Care program, an initiative that matches CATA dealer donations of up to $1,500 for local charitable organizations.

"Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal disability in our country; however, it is the least funded," said Diane Husar, founder and board member of GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park. "We must continue to show the world what individuals with Down syndrome are truly capable of achieving as students, co-workers, volunteers, friends and valued members of their communities to ensure lasting acceptance. GiGi's Playhouse offers those skills and helps change individuals' lives through consistent delivery of free educational, therapeutic-based and career development programs - from the time of prenatal diagnosis all the way through adulthood."

CATA Chairman Bill Haggerty and President Dave Sloan toured the Tinley Park-based facility to learn firsthand about its programs and services. 

"When we entered GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park, the first visual I saw was families and young children sitting around a learning carpet," said Haggerty. "Everyone was happy, smiling and singing along to an educational song, led by one of the facility's volunteers. I was blown away by the quality and professionalism of the organization, and felt fortunate to see the direct, positive impact that GiGi's Playhouse has on these families." 

"The CATA's Chicagoland Dealers Care program was designed to help our dealer members' dollars go a bit further as well as bring light to these amazing organizations that are doing so much good, right within their local communities," said Sloan.

GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park is privately funded, and maintains running the organization through community business donations, such as Community Honda and the CATA, as well as private donors. One hundred percent of the services offered to local families are free; they have an open-door policy so no one feels left out. One of GiGi's big annual fundraisers is its spring gala, which will be held May 1, 2020.

The CATA has been a longtime supporter of local nonprofit organizations like GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park. Since its inception in 2008, the Chicagoland Dealers Care program has donated more than $100,000 to local charitable organizations supported by new-car dealers. Additionally, since 1992, the association has raised more than $53 million for significant Chicago-area charities during the annual First Look for Charity black-tie event, held the evening before the Chicago Auto Show opens to the public. 

For more information about GiGi's Playhouse Tinley Park or its gala fundraiser, please visit https://gigisplayhouse.org/TinleyPark/. For more information on the CATA's Chicagoland Dealers Care program, visit www.ChicagolandDealersCare.com.