TEXARKANA, Ark. -- Texarkana Down Syndrome Society is holding its fifth annual awareness walk on Oct. 8 with a 10 a.m. start line in front of The Gallery.
"There's no fee for the walk or anything like that," said organization president Melissa Massey. "Farmers Bank and Trust is one of our big sponsors, and Total Medical Supply, along with ArkLaTex Pediatric Dentistry."
The organization also is holding a raffle for a Beretta A300 shotgun, along with a silent auction for items such as a four-night stay at a beach house at Dolphin Island and various gift certificates.
Massey was compelled to bring awareness to Down syndrome when a blood test revealed that pregnant daughter Kassie DeRosier's child had a 99 percent chance of being born with Down syndrome.
The two learned while researching that a majority of pregnancies with a strong indication of Down syndrome ended with termination or abortion.
"I just wanted to make sure that everybody is aware that we're here," Massey said. "If someone does get that diagnosis, there's people to reach out to -- families, resources and a community that they can confide in and ask questions."
DeRosier's daughter, Olivia Paige, is now 6.
Organization member Amber Waggoner Ferguson said people with Down syndrome are capable despite their limitations.
"If you've never met a person with Down syndrome, go and meet one of them. Go and spend some time at Opportunities Inc. with them. Do some volunteer work," Ferguson said. "Just make one part of your family, part of your circle, because they can give you what normal people can't."
Ferguson's aunt, Misty Ray, had Down syndrome and died in September 2021 of COVID-19; she also had Alzheimer's disease. Ferguson said she and her mother, Gwen Harris, plan to participate in the awareness walk but from a different perspective.
"My grandparents and my mom had never been told that 50% of all Down syndrome people will get dementia," Ferguson said. "There's not a lot of education on it."
Ferguson said early intervention is important and wonders if her aunt would have benefited from it.
"In her good years, she loved the (awareness) walk," Ferguson said. "She went to it for several years before she got sick. She loved it. She loved going to schools, loved going to Opportunities Inc. She was just such an outgoing person."
Ferguson shared a story of when her aunt seemingly disappeared on the Four States Fairgrounds after an awareness walk, which sent her family into a frenzy.
"So we're looking for her and we see a circle of people, and they're all yelling and cheering somebody on," Ferguson said, with a laugh. "It was her, in the middle of the circle, dancing. She was having the best time, and that was her, that's how we remember her."
The Gallery is at 105 Olive St. For information on the walk, call Melissa Massey at 903-293-7734 or Kassie DeRosier at 903-280-6709.
The Down Syndrome Society also is planning a Death by Disco Halloween Party fundraiser from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Oct. 22 at Studio 71, 105 Olive St.
Olivia Paige, 6, is the granddaughter of Texarkana Down Syndrome Society president Melissa Massey. Olivia and her family will participate in the fifth annual awareness walk Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, in Texarkana, Arkansas. (Submitted photo)