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Schedule

10:30am

Registration & Pre-Walk festivities begin

11:30am

Meet at the Pavilion for Pre-Walk Rally

12:30pm

Walk begins

1:00pm

Lunch

1:30pm

Raffle drawing

Event Details

Arrival

The 11th Annual Down Syndrome Awareness Walk will be held at Irvine Park in Chippewa Falls on Sunday, September 24, 2017. Registration and check-in begins at 10:30am at the Main Pavilion in Irvine Park. If you have pre-registered you can pick up your t-shirts. You can also turn in donations/pledges. If you need/want a donation receipt please be sure to ask for one.

Pre Walk Rally

Help us kick off the walk with the singing of the National Anthem and meeting our 2017 Feature Family.

Browse our Marketplace and Resource Area and network with other families. Be sure to stop and talk with other local organizations as well as THANK our generous sponsors!

A photographer will be available to take your complimentary family/group photo behind the Activity Building.

Dance away to the DJ!! Enjoy juggling and amazing balloon creations as well as incredible face paintings by local artists. Get your temporary tattoo and cotton candy. Stroll past the raffle tables and DON'T FORGET TO BUY TICKETS before the raffle drawing at 1:30pm

Down Syndrome Awareness Walk

Join the 1-mile stroll through Irvine Park at 12:30pm. Lunch to follow the walk.

Raffle drawing begins at 1:30pm.

Registration Information

Online Registration is Strongly Recommended and Preferred

Cost

Pre-registered participants cost $8 each and participants with Down syndrome are FREE! On-site participants cost $10 each. Save $2 on your registration costs by pre-registering!

Pre-Registration

Online registrations will be accepted until Thursday, September 21, 2017 at 12:00pm (noon). Onsite registration will also be accepted beginning at 10:30am on Sunday, September 24.

Although we encourage everyone to use the online system, we understand that some people may want to register offline. Download the offline registration form in the lefthand column under "downloads." Offline registration forms must be postmarked by Friday, September 8, 2017.

Guaranteed T-Shirts

Register by Friday, September 8, 2017 to guarantee your t-shirt. After this point, participants will receive shirts on a first come, first serve basis.

Meet Our Featured Family!

The Schmidt Family
Our journey with Down syndrome began about 9 years ago, and came as a big surprise to us when one of our twin girls, Isabelle, was born with the extra chromosome.  As all of you know, there is no good time to get this news... whether its before birth or after, it's definitely  a shock.  Our journey evolved slowly, raising premature twin girls and caring for one who had many medical complications was a challenge, but very quickly we began to see the joy everyone knew we would find!

While searching online for resources in the area and families to connect with, we came across a website called Reece's Rainbow.  Instead of finding families to connect with, we found the opposite- children with Down syndrome and other special needs waiting for a home.  Children that were orphaned because they had been born with special needs, special needs just like our own daughter.  Given up not because they didn't love their children, but because they didn't have the resources to care for them.

In May of 2016 we welcomed home our daughter Everly, from China.  A daughter who also has Down syndrome.  A daughter who now has a mom and dad, and two amazing sisters.  It was a long process; it challenged our hearts, our minds, and our faith.  We knew this child was worth every single struggle we faced.  All of our children deserve the best because we know their love is a love like no other.

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Donate Now Register For This Event

There are no sponsors for this campaign.

Top Fundraising Prizes

Back by popular demand, we are once again offering top fundraising prizes for our top three fundraising teams!! Both donations and registration costs factor into your top fundraising total, so recruit both donations and team members!!

The deadline for top fundraising donations is Friday, September 22nd at 11:59pm. Offline donations must be dropped off with Amy before Friday, September 22nd at noon. Email info@dsawchippewavalley.org to set up a dropoff time.

How Your Donation Helps

$50 Provides a New Parent Welcome Basket

$250 Provides a Member Grant to help with therapies, technology, and more.

$500 Provides a school Peer Sensitivity Training to 100 students

$2,000 Funds an educational seminar or training for parents, members, and the community

$5,000 Funds programs, services, and events in rural areas of our chapter

Donor Leaderboard

  • 1 Babe's In Toyland Childcare Center LLC $1,000.00
  • 2 Douglas McMillan $500.00
  • 3 Jill Lenhart $500.00
  • 4 Jan Conlin $500.00
  • 5 Scott Dorn $250.00
  • 6 Mark & Amy Underwood $250.00
  • 7 Melissa Anderson $250.00
  • 8 David Dahlen $200.00
  • 9 Catalytic Combustion $200.00
  • 10 Danette and Jeff McGilvray $150.00
  • 11 Anonymous $150.00
  • 12 Theodore Ludwig $100.00
  • 13 Sandra LaGrander $100.00
  • 14 Julie Roberts $100.00
  • 15 Dorene Turner $100.00
  • 16 Evan Anderson $100.00
  • 17 Hoof and Paw Veterinary Clinic $100.00
  • 18 Willis and Ruth Gunlikson $100.00
  • 19 Chad Asher $100.00
  • 20 Linda Davenport $100.00
View Full Leaderboard

Who We Are

There are more than 8,000 people in Wisconsin with Down syndrome. Over the course of the year, DSAW touches the lives of more than 4,500 of these individuals and their families through the provision of services, education, resources, and support. DSAW is able to make a difference in thousands of lives because of the incredible support of our community. We are a 27-year-old volunteer driven organization -- we have more than 800 volunteers across the state!! It is their energy and passion that fuels our mission forward. 

Why We Walk

Our Down Syndrome Awareness walks, which occur across the State of Wisconsin each year, draw more than 7,000 walkers, runners, racers, volunteers, donors, sponsors, and partners across the State under one collective mission -- to raise awareness and promote inclusion, diversity, and acceptance of people with Down syndrome and other special needs in our communities and in our lives. At DSAW we strive to guarantee access to a full life for all through education, information, programs, services, and the exchange of ideas and experiences. For the past 21 years, the Annual Awareness Walks have been the key fundraising mechanism that allow us to enter and serve communities across the state to help individuals and families with special needs prove they are stronger than the obstacles they face. Your support strengthens our programs, and our resolve.

We walk to tell their stories. That our children are remarkably gifted, talented and beautiful creations. We walk because, our sons and daughters battle every day for the same liberties that are so often taken for granted by our society. We walk to create new programs and services in under-served communities. We walk to tell our stories to the world. DSAW is 100% funded by private individuals and concerned corporate citizens and foundations who believe just as we do that with appropriate investment and just the right amount of supports, our loved ones can accomplish amazing things!