Our Buddy Walk & Family Festival Chairs - Kerri and Jon Tabasky - have been working hard for many months with our dedicated Buddy Walk Task Force to get ready to greet you on Sunday, October 12 at Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield.

Walk for Champions!

Our 18th Annual Buddy Walk & Family Festival, presented by VERIZON, will bring together over 4,000 champions! Based on the Boston Strong mentality of people coming together to overcome challenges and the positive sense of community pride that has developed as a result, we are excited to promote the 'Champions' theme as we get ready for our biggest fundraiser and awareness event of the year!

What is a Champion? Click below to find out!

We wanted you to have the chance to hear from Kerri and Jon directly so they can tell you why they're chairing the Buddy Walk & Family Festival for the third straight year! Read their letter below and be sure to say hi and thank you when you see Team Tabasky on Oct. 12.

(You must pre-register by midnight Thursday, Oct. 9 to be guaranteed a Buddy Walk t-shirt in your size.)

A Letter from Kerri & Jon Tabasky

Dear Family & Friends,

The kids are back to school. Leaves have begun to fall, and final plans for the 18th Annual Buddy Walk and Family Festival

are well underway. We are honored to co-chair this event for the third year.

It seems like yesterday when we pushed our daughter Anna in the stroller around beautiful Lake Quannapowitt for our first MDSC Buddy Walk. She was just six months old at the time. Now Anna is six years old and just started first grade. Her kindergarten year proved to be very successful, thanks to an incredible team of educators and school administrators. Together, we learned so much about inclusion. For example, we learned that it's not just about having Anna physically in the classroom. It's about having her learn from her general education teacher, and being a contributing member of the class. It's about setting high expectations that she can learn, and it's about instilling confidence in her so that she will learn. It's about making lasting friendships that will continue throughout her education and allowing her to see that her challenges don't set her apart or make her any less important to the class.

We have always been and continue to be extremely grateful to the MDSC for the support and resources they make available to us. Through a stroke of good timing, the MDSC's long-awaited Educators Manual, "Meaningful Inclusion for Students with Down Syndrome - a Resource Guide for Elementary Educators" just arrived. The guide provides a comprehensive look at the complex learning profile of students with Down syndrome, provides best practices and educational considerations based upon research driven data. The MDSC team has been working very hard to put this manual together, and we are looking forward to having our educators and children benefit from the invaluable information found in it.

For many years, the MDSC has been fortunate to have the support of Mix 104.1 and AMP 103.3 for the walk. We were so thrilled when our good friend Jonathan Elias offered to host this year. Jonathan co-anchors WBZ-TV News at 6PM and at 10PM on sister-station myTV38. Since joining the WBZ team in 2007, Jonathan has won ten Emmy awards including Best Anchor and Best Reporter three times. Our partnership with CBS Boston's radio and television properties is sure to bring Down syndrome awareness to the next level.

As many of you already know, the theme for the 18th Annual Buddy Walk and Family Festival is "The Walk for Champions." Boston is the home of champions, including (but not limited to) parents, teachers, athletes, firefighters, police officers, and our kiddos with Down syndrome.

Throughout the summer Jonathan Elias has worked tirelessly on the Buddy Walk awareness video, "What is a Champion." He has spent countless hours filming and editing the video. The film includes cameos by many amazing individuals with Down syndrome, including State House Employee and Advocate John Anton, Olympic Medalist Melissa Reilly, and Boston Bruins Employee John Dunleavy (to name a few). The video also includes some other celebrities, such as Olympic Gymnast Aly Raisman, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Boston Celtic Dana Barros, Boxer George Foreman III, Red Sox Pitcher Craig Breslow, and WBZ-TV's Steve Burton. Our goal is to make this video go viral, to spread the word and create even more awareness for Down syndrome and the Buddy Walk. We hope that you will share it with your friends, and encourage them to do the same.

We have dedicated the video to Kyle Gendron, a father and true champion, who recently lost his two-year battle with cancer. Kyle was an integral part of the Down syndrome community, and he will be greatly missed.

Each year we set a lofty but attainable team fundraising goal to support the MDSC's programs and services such as the Parents' First Call Program, Advocates in Motion (AIM), and the affiliate groups Dads Appreciating Down Syndrome (D.A.D.S) and Down Syndrome Autism Connection (DSAC). It is up to all of us to ensure that the MDSC will be around for our children and friends for many years to come.

Please join us on October 12th at scenic Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, Massachusetts for the festival. We hope to see you there!

Go here to Register Today!

And THANK YOU to all of you who continue to walk, fundraise, raise awareness, or donate so that people like Anna are accepted and given the chances in life to be happy and live out their dreams.

Warm regards,

Kerri, Jon, Jordan, Maya and Anna Tabasky

Sudbury, Mass.

CBS Buddy Walk Spotlight!

Buddy Walk & Family Festival Highlights Include:

* WBZ-TV Channel 4 is covering the walk and news anchor Jonathan Elias will be the emcee on the big day!

* Flame, a group of talented musicians from New York who happen to have disabilities, will travel to Wakefield for the Buddy Walk as part of their 2014 Tour

* Ayla Brown, American Idol Season 5 Semi-finalist and recording artist, will be returning to rock the stage with her five-person band

* Mr. Vic, popular children's musical performer, is returning for more fun!
* A variety of food selections, including an optional bag lunch for purchase with registration, The Pasta Pot and Chicken on the Road food trucks, as well as Annie's Carts, which will serve a variety of festival food, including hot dogs, hamburgers, and sausages.
* LIME GREEN T-shirts, snacks and refreshments, arts and crafts, balloon artists, face painting, special guest appearances, and much more!

We invite you to Meet Your Neighbors at the Family Festival!
We know that 4,000 people can be a little overwhelming, so to help you connect with the people who live near you we will offer color-coded name tags based on what region of MA you are located in. Just stop on by the "Meet Your Neighbors!" table at the Walk to make your name tag!

Special thanks to our Presenting Sponsor VERIZON!

About the Buddy Walk� Program

Buddy Walk Sun The Buddy Walk� was developed by the National Down Syndrome Society in 1995 to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October and to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome. The Buddy Walk has grown from 17 walks in 1995 to nearly 300 walks planned for 2013 worldwide. In 2012, more than $11.5 million was raised nationwide to benefit local programs and services, as well as the national advocacy and public awareness initiatives of NDSS that benefit all individuals with Down syndrome. The MDSC Buddy Walk Program is New England's largest public awareness platform to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome.

Find us on:

Promoting Acceptance & Inclusion

Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress Mission

We work to ensure individuals with Down syndrome in Massachusetts are valued, included, and given the opportunities to pursue fulfilling lives by providing information, networking opportunities, and advocacy for people with Down syndrome and their families, educators, health care professionals, and the community-at-large.