MDSS wishes to acknowledge and thank all of the wonderful people who organized, volunteered for, sponsored, donated and participated in Walk With Us 2015. The sun shone, tons of people came out to enjoy the day, and sponsorships and donations exceeded our expectations! Although final numbers are not yet in, we can safely say that the event brought in upwards of $35,000. Because of the efforts of those of you who fundraised and donated, MDSS will be able to continue to carry out our mission of providing support for and raising awareness about the abilities and gifts of individuals with Down syndrome.
Congratulations to Ryan Baydack and Emalyn Lauzon who brought the most buddies out the day of the walk, and to Janel Lafreniere and Jaxon Budd for bringing in the most dollars! And a big thank you to Autumn Funk, daughter of board member Brandy Kowal and Courtenay Funk, for being the cutest ribbon cutter ever!
To the Walk With Us 2015 committee, a huge thank you!
- Angie Baydack and Dustin Sigvaldason for coordinating the event and the silent auction
- Pam Friesen for looking after all aspects of registration
- Dennis Lafreniere for arranging food and drinks for the day
- Val Surbey for coordinating our many volunteers
- Brandy Kowal for Public Relations
- Diane Lauzon for applying for all the permits needed to put on the event
- Lorraine Baydack and Val Surbey for recruiting sponsorships
- Devin Newton for website expertise, recruiting sponsors and banners
- Ken Hodges for arranging staging and sound
- Norine Hodges for the fabulous cupcakes
- Val Hunter for the children’s games
MDSS would like to acknowledge following businesses that supported our Walk with sponsorship dollars. X-L Drilling has been a major sponsor of our Walk for years; however, this year’s $2500 sponsorship was their largest financial contribution to date. Sierra Courier, our newest sponsor provided $1500 to help ensure the success of our event. Long-time supporter Bison Transport, and Les Wiens of Investor’s Group, each provided $1000 in sponsorships, and Wawanesa Insurance sponsored for $650. Future Tint and Stripe generously donated the beautiful banners and sinage for our event. Also generously contributing to our event were Broadstreet Properties Ltd., Red River Co-op, WiBand Communications, Springfield Tent Rentals, NAV Canada, Cummins Western Canada, Star Building, and Bayes Financial.
MDSS is grateful to everyone who contributed items for the Silent Auction and congratulates those who went home with a prize.
The music of Luke and Murray prior to the walk was perfect for dancing, and our registrants had great fun singing and clapping along to Fred Penner’s famous tunes when they returned from the walk.
Members of the Winnipeg Blue Bomber Cheer Team, Buzz and Boomer, the mascots from Glenlawn Collegiate and Oak Park High School added to the excitement for the kids. The children also enjoyed the outdoor games, face painting and tattoos! Everyone loved the opportunity to get in a real police car and get photographed with the two friendly police officers who joined us from the Winnipeg Police Community Relations team.
Jennifer Smoluk of Prairie Charm Photography donated her time to take team photos and candid shots throughout the day. Click on this link to view the photos.
It was an absolutely perfect day.