Buddy Walk® "Come and have a best friend walk beside you" 2014

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month
Down Syndrome Albania Foundation (DSA) is organizing:
Buddy Walk® Albania "Come and have a best friend walk beside you"

October 12th, 2014, 11:00 o’clock
Start: "Queen Geraldine" Maternity"
Finish: Youth Park (Taiwan), where we continue with an artistic program

For the second consecutive year Down Syndrome Albania Foundation, raises its voice and calls attention to a forgotten cause, the cause of individuals with Down syndrome.

Buddy Walk® Albania entitled "Come and have a best friend walk beside you", is a journey to promote awareness for the rights and needs of individuals with Down syndrome to live an inclusive and dignified life.

Buddy Walk® initiative is the conception of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) of America, and for the first time it was organized in 1995 to celebrate October as Down Syndrome Awareness Month and promote acceptance and inclusion for individuals with Down syndrome. Buddy Walk® numbers have increased from 17 walking events organized in 1995, to 300 events all over the world this October, one of them being the Buddy Walk® Albania. In 2013, through Buddy Walk® in US, more than $21.3 million were donated, which were given to local programs and services. Some of them were also allocated to the National Down Syndrome Society of America, which uses them for its advocacy and awareness initiatives for individuals with Down syndrome.

Down Syndrome Albania Foundation has obtained a license from NDSS to organize the Buddy Walk® event in Albania as well.

At the finish, which is at the Youth Park, DSA has organized a festive program which includes:

• - A concert with Albanian singers who contribute their voices to this event: Orgesa Zaimi, Kamela Islamaj, Çiljeta Xhilaga, Orinda Huta, Casey Tola and Vitmar Basha
• - An artwork and food Fair with products from the mothers of children with Down syndrome
• - Barbeque by Hako and Agna Group
• - Various attractions for children

 

Proceeds from sales will go to the DSA Performance and Development Center, where 30 children with Down syndrome receive therapeutic services.

Buddy Walk® Albania is made possible by the support of AMC, IDS, HAKO, TIKA, Agna Group, Platea sha, Univers Promotions, Metro, Visual and City Move, PAS + P Marketing, Connext Marketing and Iceberg Communication.