Summer 2004 Newsletter Invitation to Family Picnic We are hosting our 2nd Family Picnic on Sunday, September 19th from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM. The location is the Magnetic Hill Lions Club on route 126, located behind the Magnetic Hill School. A rain date is set for Sept.26th, same time and location. Bring your appetite, lawn chairs, ball glove and your family. Please call 387-8592 or email us at grmctdss@rogers.com to confirm your attendance. Please let us know if you have any family members with food allergies. St. John Ambulance will be on the site. We have students and volunteers to help out with younger children. There is no cost for this event. Here are some of the things you can look forward to : fire truck visit, Glow Productions-“Big Mike jumping tent”, supervised for all ages, face painting, clowns, baseball game, craft table, playground, Noah’s Ark-homemade French fries, cotton candy, BBQ-hotdogs, drinks, cake. There will be a photographer on site who will take pictures of the afternoon. You can request special photos be taken and they will be mailed to you later. Deadline date for calling is September 17th at noon, thanks. National Down Syndrome Conference  There were 17 people representing New Brunswick at the conference in St. John’s Newfoundland in May. Those represented: (7) Moncton, (1) Grand Falls, (3) Campbellton, (3) Fredericton, (3) Saint John. It was great to connect with other New Brunswick families. Here is one family’s story of their experience of going to Newfoundland:
“We were so glad we went to the National Down Syndrome conference, it was our first. Thanks to the supportive and loving families we met from New Brunswick. They gave us support and friendship we had longed for since our son was born with Down syndrome. Listening to the speakers, doctors and meeting other parents gave us so much hope. What a relief to see people with Down syndrome having a normal life, having a voice and knowing what their needs are. This is what we wanted for our son who is now two. People with Down syndrome have come so far, if we hadn’t gone to the conference, I feel we would have been misguided.” Thanks again, Valerie and Luc, Campbellton,N.B. Congratulations! Congratulations to all graduates! We are proud of you! Baby Congratulations Since our last newsletter, there have been 4 new babies born, welcome to our new families. 3rd Annual Oppor-TUNE-ity Knocks ® Music night/Fundraiser The Fundraising committee have been meeting and are making plans to host a great evening of music and fun again. If you have some time and would like to volunteer with this event, please call us soon. If you have been a corporate sponsor in the past or would like to donate financially to this fundraiser, please give us a call as letters will be going out soon to local businesses. Tax receipts will be issued for donations. Memorial Giving We have placed memorial cards at 12 local Funeral homes in the Greater Moncton area. You will have to ask for them. If they have run out you can request their generic card and specify the society as your charity of choice. Thank you to those who are using them. Dudley Locks Is your child having difficulty with remembering their combination or manipulating a lock at school? CDSS has a one digit Dudley lock available for $10.00. If you’re a CDSS member, you can email your order in at www.cdss.ca or we can place an order and make them available to you. Email or call us if interested. Board of Directors for 2004-2005 On April 13th 2004, a new Board of Directors was voted in at the Annual General Meeting.
Board of Directors The Board of Directors meets the second Tuesday of every month from September until June. During our first fall meeting, we will be planning the public meetings and events for the year, stay tuned. United Way Centraide Last fall, we were the recipients of the Response Funding project from the United Way of Greater Moncton. These funds allowed us to
A special thank you to the United Way Moncton region for your support in this project, and to all of the employees and families who have given so generously through payroll deductions to the society this past year. Special recognition to: Staff at Dorchester Penitentiary for pledging over $2000.00 in 2004 through United Way giving to the society. Your generosity was very much appreciated! New Books/Videos coming soon We recently purchased approximately 50 books to be available in the fall at the Dieppe, Riverview and Moncton libraries. They are currently being catalogued in Fredericton. We are hopeful that by late September they will be in place for you to borrow. A list of these resources will be made available to you at our picnic. 9th World Down Syndrome Congress The 9th World Down Syndrome Congress is being held in Vancouver, B.C. from August 22-27, 2006. Visit their web site for more information at www.venuewest.com/2006/wdsc/ You can go to the link on the CDSS home page at www.cdss.ca. Early Years Committee/Survey This working committee has mailed out approximately 25 surveys to families who have had children born with Down syndrome from 1990 until present. They have received 15 back. This committee will meet in the fall to compile the data and bring their report back to the Board of Directors. They will still accept surveys if mailed in before September. Thanks for your willingness to be a part of this project. If you are a new family and did not receive this survey call Darlene Jordan at 852-4719. What is Obstructive sleep Apnea (OSAS)? Why does it occur more frequently in people with Down syndrome? In the spring CDSS Newsletter, there is an article with questions and information on this topic that is often unsuspected. If you’d like a copy of this, email us at grmctdss@rogers.com or call 387-8592 and we’ll mail you a copy. Couples Night Out We can have the full use of the beautiful Mapleton Park pavilion. Would you like to connect with and meet some other families, have some good food, entertainment, share experiences? If you would like to organize or be a part of this, call 387-8592 or email grmctdss@rogers.com Special Olympics beginning this fall In late September, the Special Olympics gear up for another year. There is a program for Pee-Wee, ages 5-12, and young adults ages 13 and up. They offer gym every Saturday morning at Beaverbrook school. This program is well supervised with dedicated volunteers. For young/older adults there is swimming at St.Pats Family centre and weekly bowling at Fairlanes (Mountain Road) For early registration and more information please call Glen Agnew at 855-6720. Talk Mail messages We are updating our current list of talk mail numbers. If you are not receiving our messages please let us know and we’ll add you to the list. We use this service as it’s cost effective and lessens our time on the phone. If you are receiving talk mail messages and no longer wish to, notify us and we’ll remove your number. Need Volunteers Need a volunteer to sew approximately 20-25 small T-shirts for the New Beginning bears that are part of our hospital packets. We will provide the materialsand it can be done in your home. Time frame: next 2-3 weeks. Need a volunteer to do some office work and mailouts as needed. Commitment of approximately 4-6 hours a month. Call 387-8592 if interested. |