Dear Family and Friends,

This will be our second year participating in the annual Buddy Walk event, and our first year doing so in Florida.  We were blessed last year in Virginia with fantastic support from across the country and hope that everyone can either find time to join us or contribute to this worthy cause.

While Alessandra has been through a great deal in the last year, she has responded to every challenge like a "Champion".  She's been utterly fearless, relentless, and undaunted.  Her recovery from open heart surgery last Christmas went by quickly and extremely well.  We owe great thanks to the doctors and nurses of The Childrens Hospital of the King's Daughters and Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia.  They're professionals in every sense of the word! 

Since last Christmas, Alessandra has made great strides in nearly every developmental area and continues to surprise her doctors and therapists on a regular basis.  To give you an idea, she started crawling around 12 months old and began walking with support around 15 months old.  She's been standing on her own with support (table, chair, or play station) for the last couple of months.  She also scored very, very high in the mental/cognitive areas.  These great strides are attributed to the quality of care she receives from her support team of doctors, therapists, Mom, Dad, and Big Brother, as well as her own indomitable spirit.

We didn't nickname her "WILDCAT" for nothing!

We want to thank you for visiting our fundraising page!  Your donations support the continued fight for advocacy, education, awareness and acceptance of people with Down Syndrome, not only in Florida, but across our Nation.

Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support our fundraising efforts.

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate, too!

Sincerely,

John, Yani, Gabriel and Alessandra