Recently, I was asked to do a sponsored post though PearUp and Johnsonville. I was asked to create a fundraising campaign for the group/charity of my choice. For those of you who know me, it's no wonder I chose to raise money for Down Syndrome Awareness.
Read my post here
For those of you that don't know me, I chose to raise money for this cause because it's one that is near and dear to my heart. See, my youngest bonus son has Down Syndrome. While we have been very blessed so far to encounter people who love him back, not everyone has that. Every Sunday, at church, we have a coffee/donut social. When he is visiting us, he will eat his donut, run around with the other kids, and then when we're ready to leave, he has to go around and hug EVERYONE. It's very sweet- and shocks many of them- but they hug him back, and are very touched by his love and compassion.
This is one of my favorite pictures of him- we took it this summer when he was visiting with us.
I remember one time when I was younger, my mother & I were shopping in the Disney store in Mobile- those of you familiar with the area know how long the Disney store has been gone. There was this precious little girl who had Down Syndrome in there with her mother. She was probably 2-3 years old. She reached out for my mom, who willingly took her (with the permission of her mom, of course) and was talking to her and loving her. The baby girl's mom was almost in tears- "Thank you. No one ever does that- they usually just push her away." That experience stuck with me even until now.
Also, when I was in high school, I would volunteer during the summer at Camp Adventure/Camp SMILE. Of course, those children had Down Syndrome, Autism, CP, and more. One year, the little boy I was charged with had Down Syndrome and while he was challenging to work with the first few days- I think he was homesick- he settled down and accepted me, and started loving on me.
I encourage all of you to please read my post from 50 Things to Know- and then go to PearUp and support this cause- you don't have to make a cash donation- simply complete a few tasks: join the group, go to the sponsor's page (in this case Johnsonville), share us with friends, and promote us on Facebook. Johnsonville donates the cash- up to $13 per person.
Read the post here
With Love,
Krista
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