31 For 21: Day 16... Today's Buddy Walk

Well, this year's Buddy Walk is officially over!  It was a very chilly and even more windy day!  But that didn't stop over 1500 people from coming down to Hammonasset State Park in Madison to walk with us.  I don't even know how much money was raised for the Connecticut Down Syndrome Congress yet...it was too windy from where I was standing to hear the totals.  I think I might have heard something about $92,000, but I'm not really sure.

Chris' boss gave us a donation again this year and said that if we could get a picture of Sonia Baghdady, a news anchor from WTNH Channel 8, wearing one if his "Mike's Truck & Trailer Repair" t-shirts, then he would double his donation.  Well, check out the picture below! 

Chris with Master of Ceremonies, WTNH News Anchor Sonia Baghdady

Chris called his boss from the walk to tell him that we got the picture.  I then told him that I was holding onto the picture until he gave us $100 more than the amount he promised.  I emailed the picture to Sonia and told her that I was going to hold out for more money.  I received the following email back from her tonight:

"Thank you Kim! Love it!! Milk it-- Get all the cash you can from him.  Tell him to make it $300... and I'll come down to Mike's Truck and Trailer and take a pic with him!  Great meeting you today...
Sonia :)"

Wait till he hears that one!  We'll see if he'll actually agree to it, but it would be great for our team to add another donation to benefit the CDSC.  More programs and events for our members, more support and outreach to new parents...the list of things that we accomplish with our donations are endless!

Below are more pictures from our Buddy Walk today:

31 For 21: Day 15...Buddy Walk Tomorrow!

Me and Andrew at last year's Buddy Walk.

We're busy today getting ready for our farmers' markets this weekend (as usual), PLUS I'm getting ready for our Buddy Walk tomorrow afternoon!  It's going to be windy and cold on the beach tomorrow.  No matter what the weather, it will still be a FUN day!  I always enjoy seeing friends that we haven't seen in awhile and have them walk for us to help raise money and awareness for Down syndrome.  I really appreciate that my aunt, uncle, cousin and mother-in-law have walked with us every year since Andrew was born.  This will be our 4th Buddy Walk!  Last year, I actually made team t-shirts for us and I made a few more tonight for anyone else who joins us.

I am looking forward to a FUN and chilly day at Hammonasset State Park in Madison.  The registration begins at 11am with Opening Ceremonies at 12:45pm with emcee Sonia Baghdady from WTNH Channel 8 television.  The 1 mile walk begins at 1pm along the board walk.  It is so beautiful to be towards the end of the procession and see the long line of people walking in front of us.  It really is amazing to see how many people have a friend or family member with Ds and how many of them come out to support us.  Plus Chris' boos said that he will double his donation if we can get Sonia to wear a "Mike's Truck & Trailer Repair" t-shirt and have her picture taken in it.  Hopefully that will happen and we can get the extra donation!  Pictures will come tomorrow...as long as I remember to bring the camera...and fresh batteries!

Everyone have a GREAT weekend!  More inspiration and stories to come next week!

31 For 21: Day 12...Who Else is Out There?



Me with Andrew on his first day of preschool last December.

 So, I've now been blogging faithfully for 12 days now.  I've been getting some comments posted to Facebook so I know that some people are reading my posts.  For the most part, I've been storytelling.  I don't really think that I've been providing support or advice, I've just been reminiscing about the past.  That is going to change...tomorrow.  It's too late tonight to think about try to help anyone.  My mission behind my blog was to provide support and information to parents with a child with Down syndrome.  I can only hope to reach other family members and perhaps professionals who know a person with Ds.  But first, I need information from you.  I am asking for one little thing from you, my readers.  I would like every person who reads this post to leave me a comment.  At the very least, please let me know where you live and how you are connected to a person with Ds.  If you are not directly connected to someone with Ds, please let me know why you are choosing to read my posts.  If you are directly connected to someone with Ds, please let me know of your relation.  Also, if you have the energy, let me know if there is any topic that you would like to know more about...are you looking for more resources?  Research?  Support groups?  More stories about Andrew's achievements? Anything you want to know, I'll do my best to provide it.  I am writing not only for me, to remember Andrew's success, but for you, to show you that people with Ds can learn, can succeed, can be productive members of society, even when many "professionals" still provide out-dated information about our "kids".

You may wonder why I am thinking about all of this all of a sudden.  I think it was the email that I received tonight.  It was from the CDSC Buddy Walk.  I received an online donation for our Buddy Walk team, "Andrew's All-Stars" from an unexpected source.  Since I did not ask permission to use her name, I will not publish who the donation was from, but I was touched by her note that was sent along to me.  It said...

"My daughter "M" was born 8-7-10....we are not able to go to the buddy walk this year but definitely want to next year...but I still wanted to contribute in her name and have been following your blog and saw your team name :)"

I was so touched that someone following my blog chose to support our Buddy Walk team.  I am so thankful for many reasons...first that she had been following my blog, and second that she chose to donate to our team in her daughter's name.  After I have received permission from each donor, I will be publishing the names of our supporters here. 

I do want to publicly thank "M"s mom for her generous donation to the CDSC and her support of Andrew's All-Stars.  I will email you to touch base personally.  Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful daughter!  As you can see, you will also be able to enjoy watching your daughter achieve all of her milestones and the triumph that you will feel in your heart when she does.  She will bring a joy to your family that will be unique.  And you will learn much more from her than she will ever learn from you.  I am looking forward to talking with you and hope that we can connect sometime to get our children together!

So, please let me know about you buy leaving a comment below..  To review, here is what I want to know about you:

Where you live and how you are connected to a person with Ds. 
If you are not directly connected to someone with Ds, please let me know why you are choosing to read my posts. 
If you are directly connected to someone with Ds, please let me know of your relation. 
Also, if you have the energy, let me know if there is any topic that you would like to know more about...are you looking for more resources?  Research?  Support groups?  More stories about Andrew's achievements?

Thanks to everyone for supporting this exercise.  Have a GREAT night!

Kim  :)