Fun Times at the 2014 Southern New England Walk for Williams

A big thanks to everyone who donated to Team Sawyer and the Southern New England Walk for Williams Syndrome! Team Sawyer raised around $3000 and the Walk raised over $12,000 to benefit the Williams Syndrome Association.

Team Sawyer had a great time at the Walk! We were joined by school friends, Greg's brother's family, my Dad who flew in from TN, Sawyer's SPED teacher and speech therapist, and his Sunday School teacher. We also had some friends who dropped in to buy raffle tickets. We lucked out with the weather-- although there was a threat of rain, it held off and actually cleared off nicely for the afternoon. Gwen had a blast with the magician, John Henry, who made money appear out of thin air.

Despite my efforts to win the Pandora bracelet, the only Low who won something was my nephew. But a lot of happy people went home with great prizes!

We are so blessed to have so many great friends and family who took the time to come to the Walk, donated online or supported one of the related fundraisers through Tastefully Simple or Alex and Ani. In the five years since the Williams Syndrome Association began WS Awareness Month and the Walks for Williams, they have been able to increase the amount of scholarship, financial assistance and research support from just $50,000 per year to $250,000. They are now able to offer complementary workshops for educators as well as help families with assistive technology and housing initiatives. 89 cents for every dollar goes directly to families through programs, scholarships and medical assistance. Your donation is well spent, and deeply appreciated by families such as ours. 

Thank you again for your support of the Walk for Williams and Team Sawyer. See you next year!!

Three More Days!

Just three more days until the Walk for Williams in Walpole, MA! Team Sawyer has already met its fundraising goal and exceeded it. To date, we have raised about $2100, and I know that some people have handed checks to other members of Team Sawyer that are not yet included in that count. Thank you to everyone who has contributed! If you still wish to contribute you can do so at the Team Sawyer 2014 Fundraising Page.

If you are in the greater-Boston area and would like to join us on Saturday, registration opens at 9am at Bird Park. Understandably, this is a busy time of year, so if you are short on time you are also welcome to just drop by the park and say hello. There is free entertainment including music, a magician, and face painting. We have 21 great raffle prizes with donations from Vineyard Vines, The Woodstock Inn, The British Beer Company, Pandora, Vantel Pearls, Samsonite, Tastefully Simple, and more. Some WS friends and families have also donated a Kindle Fire and an American Girl doll as well and three set of Red Sox tickets.

At this point, all is ready to go-- we just need the weather to cooperate. Rain or shine, the Walk is happening; so, come on down, buy some raffle tickets and a t-shirt, enjoy some free Pepsi products and cheer on our families as they raise awareness of the extraordinary gifts and unique challenges of Williams Syndrome.