WDSD activities eclipsed expectations

Edmeston, New York, April 15, 2024 … Pathfinder Village’s awareness campaign for World Down Syndrome Day, March 21, eclipsed all expectations with colorful socks, blue-and-yellow decorations, and fun online and in-person promotional events.

As part of its annual “3-21 Challenge,” Pathfinder Village partnered with the employees of NYCM Insurance for their “Rock Your Socks” crazy socks day and charity games of “21” with members of the Village’s Adult Day Services serving as dealers. Through these awareness activities at the insurance company’s Edmeston, Sherburne, Canajoharie and Orchard Park locations, the NYCM staff raised $1,500 to benefit the non-profit organization. Wearing bright, colorful, mismatched socks on World Down Syndrome Day is a widespread tradition, as chromosomes resemble socks when imaged through high-resolution microphotography.

Other local businesses celebrated World Down Syndrome Awareness through special activities, including a donation drawing at High Burl Brewery, West Burlington, which raised $800. Local decoration contest winners included Hoyt’s Hardware, Local Gas, Spike’s Pizza & Grocery, the Benson Family, NBT Bank-Edmeston, and All the Perks Coffee Truck. Online, the Pathfinder Village Foundation raised over $11,000 with its $21 Challenge, which encouraged donors’ participation and peer-to-peer connections over social media.

Other events and activities during the month that focused on neighborly engagement and connecting globally with others in the Down syndrome community included a winter farmer’s market, a community painting class, a concert with Scattered Flurries, Otsego Academy’s Leadership week with peers from Colgate University, and the 11th-anniversary market for Pathfinder Produce, the Village’s signature microbusiness that provides the community access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

March 21 – “3-21” – is observed as World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) as the numerical date represents the triplication of the 21st chromosome in the human genotype, the genetic cause of 95% of occurrences of Down syndrome or Trisomy 21. WDSD has been observed since 2006; it first received recognition by the United Nations in 2012.

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Pathfinder Village is an internationally respected livable community and services provider in upstate New York; it was founded in 1980 to provide people with Down syndrome and other disabilities an independent and fulfilling lifestyle. As it works to provide quality supports for individuals with intellectual disabilities, the Village also offers highly successful educational, day services, vocational/pre-vocational, and outreach programs. To learn more, visit https://pathfindervillage.org, or visit our social media on Facebook and Instagram.