Giving Tuesday: Grede Provides $10,000 and Countless Volunteer Hours to Go Baby Go

Today, on #GivingTuesday, we’re proud to announce that Grede, a trusted partner in the mobility industry, donated $10,000 and over 350 volunteer hours this month to Go Baby Go, an international collective of people on a mission to provide mobility to children in need.

Not everyone is fortunate to have the mobility they need to explore their world. Mobility is a human right, and with kids, play is the best way to get that done. So, this month, Grede held an all-day event at headquarters in Southfield, Michigan, where we partnered with Go Baby Go to build and modify ten power ride-on cars for toddlers with mobility impairments in the metro Detroit area.

Our corporate team and their families built the cars, and the ten families attended the event to meet their build team, watch the build in action, and ring the bell when their car was done. Then, they decorated their cars with stickers and toys at the “bling station.” And finally, the child got to sit in their car and take it for a test drive outside on our “race track.”

Let us introduce you to some families by watching the video and reading their stories below.

Now, we’ll share the stories from three of the families: the Wilson family, the Johns family, and the Antoski family.

Sloan “Warrior Princess” Wilson

When we asked Doug Wilson what this car would do for his family, he said,

“Our daughter, Sloan, is 15 months old and was diagnosed with epilepsy—specifically infantile spasms. We call her the “Warrior Princess” because her name means warrior in Scottish. Sloan has a fantastic support system, including her physical therapist and occupational therapist, who have been working on her development, most recently her mobility. They referred us to work with Go Baby Go to get her custom-modified car so she can make her own choices regarding movement.

This powered car, explicitly designed for Sloan, will allow us to walk around the neighborhood and cruise around the backyard. Her big brother also has a Jeep that’s a little bigger than hers. He’s three years old and doesn’t use the Jeep much, but we bet that will change once he sees Sloan’s new car. Thank you so much to Grede and Go Baby Go for providing this gift to Sloan.”

Jameson “Sonny” Johns

Meet Jameson Johns, also known as Sonny because he’s a little ray of sunshine. Sonny is one year old, and when we talked to his parents, Samantha and Jeff, about what the car would do for them, they said,

“Sonny had a heart transplant in February of this year, so he’s had quite the journey so far. We spent about nine months in the hospital. He’s home now, and we’re loving life with him.

We’re so excited about this car for him because, after his transplant, he had a significant stroke, and so he has a lot of weakness on the left side of his body. We’re working hard at physical and occupational therapy, where we learned about Go Baby Go. Having this car allows him to keep up with his big sister, especially playing outside and doing many things that a typical child his age would do that he may not have the strength for yet.

So, for him to sit in a car, play, and have adventures outside will be a gift for us to see, as well as his relationship with his big sister. So, we’re incredibly thankful to have that.”

Nicolo “Niko” Antoski

Meet Niko, who turned two years old the day after the Go Baby Go Build event! We celebrated with him with a cupcake and sang “Happy Birthday.” When we asked Niko’s dad, Jon Antoski, what this car would do for his family, he said,

“Niko was diagnosed with Phelan-McDermid syndrome last July. He has some difficulties with fine and gross motor skills, and we’re incredibly honored and lucky to be receiving this car because it’ll help him be a little more mobile.

Niko is very dependent on us for mobility, and he doesn’t have great coordination with his hands or legs, so with the button on the car, it’s easy for him to press it and get where he wants to go. We could see the joy on his face when he was test-driving it at the event. Thank you so much to Grede for nominating us. We sincerely appreciate it, and he will, too.”

Mobility For All

Our mission at Grede is to keep critical operators and goods moving with highly engineered casting solutions, and who could be more mission-critical today than children who are challenged in mobility?

At Grede, we deeply value corporate citizenship and giving back to our communities. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) responsibility and sustainability are embedded in everything we do.

Thank you to Go Baby Go, the Grede volunteers, and their families for donating your time and energy to such a great cause.