By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The New Year's Eve Ball Drop, Radio City Music Hall, and Rockefeller Center have all made New York City's Times Square an American hallmark. Great Bend's Kadin White has never been to Times Square in person, but he did make an appearance recently via one of the large screens overlooking the Square as part of the National Down Syndrome Society's (NDSS) New York City Buddy Walk. His mother, Briana White, submitted a photo for the event.
"They emailed me and said his was selected," she said. "It was exciting. Ideally, we would have been in New York so I could have seen it in real life, but it was cool to see it like that at Times Square. It was just kind of a random deal but we were super honored his photo was selected."
October was first designated as National Down Syndrome Awareness Month in the 1980s and has been recognized every October since. The campaign is designed to spread awareness, inspire, and encourage those with Down and their families. Since 1995, the Buddy Walk has been NDSS's biggest advocacy event in the United States. The New York City Walk, which celebrated its 30th year on Sept. 7, raised more than $250,000.
"They always used to center those Buddy Walks throughout the month of October," Briana said. "I think the temperatures and other things have pushed the walks earlier so they're usually held in September now."
Down syndrome is caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21. The syndrome was named after John Langdon Down, a British physician who first described the syndrome in 1866. People with Down are just like everyone else with dreams and desires. They drive, go to school and work, get married, and contribute to society.