2022 NYC Buddy Walk for Down syndrome to feature 2 local kids on Times Square jumbotron
With a wide smile and jovial laugh erupting from 6-year-old Preston Leonard, his mom giggles at his excitement over his upcoming debut on a Times Square jumbotron.
Preston and 1-year-old Everly Brown are two Treasure Coast children among 500 nationwide who won a National Down Syndrome Society competition. Photos of them will be displayed on the big screen in one of New York City's busiest landmarks.
The Sept. 17 video presentation, which will be livestreamed on Facebook, kicks off the 2022 NYC Buddy Walk to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October.
"When you have a child with special needs, sometimes it's hard," mother Ashley Leonard said. "When there's something positive ... it puts the light on them for a minute. Everybody is proud and he's excited."
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Leonard, a Port St. Lucie stay-at-home mom who raises and homeschools her five children, said the whole family is excited to go to New York City for the first time.
Aside from homeschooling, Preston attends Whole Child Therapies in Stuart, which is owned by Joanne Murphy.
"Being a tightly knit community with strong support for special-needs children," Murphy said, "it was exciting to know that two of our own (from the Treasure Coast) were chosen to kick off the Buddy Walk."
Leonard wasn't deterred when Preston's photo wasn't chosen in 2021. She resubmitted his preschool picture in May and he was chosen in August. She said she plans to submit a photo next year too, to see if they are lucky enough to be chosen again.
Heather Burke, a Port St. Lucie resident, said she submitted daughter Everly's photo with one objective in mind.
"I wanted to bring awareness to the fact that babies with Down syndrome are such a blessing and bring so much joy to everyone," she said.
Burke cannot fly to New York for the event, so she plans to host a local buddy walk on the same day in Tradition Village Square. Participants will start their walk at 6 p.m. Sept. 17 at the gazebo on Southwest Meeting Street, across from Tradition Town Hall.
Burke, who estimated 20 people will attend, said she was inspired to organize her own "buddy walk" after friends expressed an interest in showing support for Everly and the National Down Syndrome Society.
What is the New York City Buddy Walk?
The NYC Buddy Walk began in 1995 to promote the acceptance and inclusion of people who are born with an extra chromosome, which causes mild to moderate cognitive disability, developmental delays and physical challenges.
The 2022 NYC Buddy Walk will be held in person for the first time since 2020, when it was held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. Over 2,000 photos — from toddlers to teenagers — were submitted for the live video presentation.
It will be streamed from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on the NDSS Facebook page.
In Florida, there are 10 local Buddy Walks planned for October and November. The closest one to the Treasure Coast will be on Viera's Town Center Avenue on Nov. 5.
Gianna Montesano is TCPalm's underserved communities reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429 or follow her on Twitter @gmontesano13.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: New York Times Square: Down syndrome Buddy Walk features 2 local kids
