Party at Parkside is a spring cocktail party on its 3rd year on May 10th at the 2nd Floor Parkside on 301 E. 6th Street, Austin TX 78701 benefitting for The Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas (DSACT).
DSACT is the only organization in the Central Texas area that provides programs and services exclusively for individuals with Down syndrome, their families, educators, and the medical community.
“We want to help parents learn what they need to know, when they need to know it.” Suzanne Shepherd, Co-President of the DSACT Board of Directors. “Our next step is expanding our range of services to adults, because we know that people with Down syndrome are lifelong learners.”
Established in 1991, DSACT provides services at no cost to more than 500 families residing in 13 Central Texas counties. Over 60 school districts receive materials developed exclusively for educators and provide training to more than 120 teachers and special education personnel annually. Approximately 200 physicians receive DSACT materials or participate in seminars provided by DSACT, and twelve community education events are conducted annually.
The festivities are made possible by donors Home Away, Bloomfire, Jones-Dilworth Inc., Ultimate Imaging Design, Assembly Events, Olga Maystruk Designs, and Parkside. Allie McCann, Special Events Committee member with DSACT, “support from local businesses and individual donors means a lot to us, because the awareness and understanding of the community has such a huge impact on quality of life for people with DS.”
DSACT programs allow children and adults with Down syndrome to make friends and develop skills. Since the extracurricular programs of many camps and schools are frequently not open to or suitable for individuals with Down syndrome, DSACT’s programs are often the only programs of their kind in Central Texas open to people with Down sundrome. DSACT programs teach children literacy and math skills, sign language, karate, cooking, dance, swimming, and fine arts free of charge.
Cocktail party will include food, dancing, and rum donated by Treaty Oak. To purchase tickets for the event visit http://www.dsact.com/parkside.htm
By Monica Pena
Austin Times
Leave a Reply