It is Buddy Walk time again.

Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you now know, it has become an annual event for our family to participate in
the Down Syndrome Family Alliance of Greenville’s Buddy Walk. The Buddy Walk was
developed in 1995 by the National Down Syndrome Society to bring together a wide
range of concerned individuals to reach out to friends, family and co-workers to promote
awareness and inclusion for people with Down syndrome and to raise money for research
and education programs. Last year our local walk was a wonderful success and Team
Freeman collected over $2,500 in donations. I am proud of that and the support all of you
showed Ryan and our family.

What I have not shared with you is that I was a co-chair of last year’s event. I went into
planning the walk with one goal in mind and it was to raise money. The event did raise
over $25,000 to benefit our children and families. This amount is unprecedented in our
community!

This year I am once again a co-chair of the Buddy Walk, and once again I want to raise
money for the Down syndrome community. Fortunately, though, the pressure isn’t as
great as in the past. My goal this year is to focus on awareness and have as many
registered walkers as possible on Team Freeman and at the walk.
Many of you are wondering how you can help because maybe you live out-of-town, or
even out-of-state. If that’s the case, I want you to register as a walker anyway because I
want to add your name to the Team Freeman banner that we will carry on walk day. I
want to send you a Buddy Walk t-shirt, and I want you to wear it and when given the
opportunity to share, I want you to tell people that you know this amazing child with Down
syndrome and he’s made a positive impact on his family as well as all people who know
him.

If you live in the Greenville, I want you to register and walk with us. I want you to
celebrate the lives and the accomplishments of all people who have Down syndrome. I
can’t think of a better thing to do on a Sunday afternoon in late September than that.

It is easy to register, just send me an e-mail requesting a brochure and I'll send on to you. It has
all the details you’ll need to sign up to be a member of Team Freeman. If you'd prefer I can mail a brochure to you. If you have questions just ask and I’ll be happy to answer them for you.

Thank you for your support,
Marcy

P.S. You can also give an online donation at First Giving.