Colorado Ballet Academy Students with Cora Jane and Kristina

Two ballet students from the Global Down Syndrome Foundation’s Be Beautiful Be Yourself Dance Class have been cast by the Colorado Ballet for their official production of the holiday classic “The Nutcracker.”  Both students are part of the ensemble of children partygoers and will have plenty of stage time to show off their dance skills and shine!

Global’s star student, Cora Jane Thompson, will perform in the Thursday, Dec. 7th, showing and star student, Kristina Penfield, will perform in the Thursday, Dec. 14th showing. Both students will perform in the prime time 7:30pm showing of The Nutcracker at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, 1101 13th Street in Denver.

Please support Global’s star students and our partner, the Colorado Ballet, by purchasing tickets to The Nutcracker performances on Thursday December 7th and Thursday December 14th at 7:30pm!!

The Global Down Syndrome Foundation’s Be Beautiful Be Yourself Dance Program is made possible by generous grants from the Melvin & Elaine Wolf Foundation, The Daniels Fund, and the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation.

Global is deeply grateful to its program donors and to our partners – the Colorado Ballet and the Sie Center for Down Syndrome at Children’s Hospital Colorado.  Our Be Beautiful Be Yourself Dance Class runs for two seasons a year. Each 16 week season is taught by Colorado Ballet professionals alongside Sie Center physical therapists and educators.  The program provides instruction on ballet movement, music appreciation, rhythm and basic dance steps as well as interpersonal skills, vocabulary and confidence building to students ages 5-14 who happen to have Down syndrome.

The program is designed as both a confidence builder to dance classes with typical peers and as a stand-alone dance class that gives students with Down syndrome the opportunity to make friends who also have the condition.

Over 30% of our students are scholarship recipients – to support the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Dance Class and our students in need, please make a donation today!

Congratulations, Cora Jane and Kristina! We are so proud of how hard you worked to be cast in The Nutcracker!  GOOD LUCK! We know you will SHINE!

Colorado Ballet Dancers Mackenzie Dessens and Gregory K. Gonzales with Kristina and Cora Jane

Colorado Ballet Studio Company Dancers with Kristina and Cora Jane

Watch our dancers featured on CBS 4 Denver here!

Watch our dancers featured on Colorado’s Best on Fox 31 here!

A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PROGRAM SUPPORTERS

A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PROGRAM PARTNERS

A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR IN-KIND DONORS

Global’s President & CEO highlights video of historic congressional hearing on Down syndrome research reaching over 150 million views

At the annual Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show, Michelle Sie Whitten encouraged Global’s 1,360 attendees to watch the C-Span coverage of the landmark congressional hearing and to support increased federal funding for research benefiting people with Down syndrome. 

Generous $1 million grant will help establish a much-needed education center at Global’s new international HQ in Denver 

Media Contacts:
Kathy Green | kgreen@globaldownsyndrome.org | (720) 280-9725
Anca Call | acall@globaldownsyndrome.org | (720) 320-3832

DENVER – The Global Down Syndrome Foundation (Global) today announced a transformative lead gift of $1 million from The Salah Foundation. Combined with the generous $1 million grant, Global will receive additional matching funds that will help to establish a center in Denver dedicated to educational activities primarily for people with Down syndrome but also for others who are differently-abled.

The gift was unveiled by Noreen Salah Burpee, executive director of The Salah Foundation, at Global’s annual record-breaking Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show held on Nov. 11, 2017, at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel. The announcement brought a crowd of more than 1,300 including advocates with Down syndrome, their families, friends, supporters, and celebrities Quincy Jones, Jamie Foxx, DeOndra Dixon, Marisa Tomei, Joe Manganiello, John C. McGinley, Matt Dillon and Eva Longoria to their feet.

“We are so grateful for The Salah Foundation and Noreen for making this generous and impactful gift to the Global Down Syndrome Foundation,” said John C. McGinley, award-winning actor and Global board member after hearing the announcement backstage at the fashion show. “The team at Global works hard and is truly delivering for the Down syndrome community. This will allow them to reach even more people.”

“We are thrilled to support the work of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation as they continue to create extraordinary change in the lives of people with Down syndrome and their families,” said Salah Burpee. “We hope that others will follow suit and open their hearts and wallets to this important project.”

The education center will be housed in Global’s new international headquarters in Denver in the Cherry Creek Shopping North – one of the most popular districts in Colorado with the fastest growing foot traffic. It is anticipated that the multi-use education center will provide cooking classes, computer labs and other center-based educational programs for varying ages and abilities and will open sometime in the second half of 2018.

Global supports the research of hundreds of scientists around the world and helped establish the first and only academic home for Down syndrome research at the Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at the University of Colorado School of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and autoimmune disorders.

Global funding also helps provide the highest quality of comprehensive medical care to thousands of children with Down syndrome from around the world through the Sie Center for Down Syndrome at Children’s Hospital Colorado, coordinating medical care, along with therapies including speech, physical and occupational therapy.

“We are grateful for the continued support of The Salah Foundation as we advance our mission,” said Michelle Sie Whitten, president and CEO of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. “Noreen, Fred, Megan and the whole Salah family have believed in our work, provided us guidance to expand, and now have given us this extraordinary gift that simultaneously increases our impact on people with Down syndrome and helps ensure my parents’ legacy. I can’t tell you how meaningful that is to us.”

###

About The Salah Foundation

The Salah Foundation is a private foundation, by invitation only, that supports non-profit organizations in the United States that strengthen families and communities and advances individuals to become productive and responsible citizens. There is a special interest in education, medical research, community development, and self-sufficiency programs aimed at the economically disadvantaged, the young, the elderly and the disabled. To learn more, visit www.salahfoundation.org. 

About the Global Down Syndrome Foundation

The Global Down Syndrome Foundation is at the forefront of research, medical care, education and advocacy dedicated to significantly improving the lives of people with Down syndrome. Supporting the research of hundreds of scientists around the world, and through our advocates, partners, and affiliates including the Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the Anna and John J. Sie Center for Down Syndrome, Global is making an impact on the lives of people with Down syndrome today, and remain focused on finding solutions tomorrow. We are committed to helping people with Down syndrome realize their fullest potential and lead healthy and productive lives. To learn more, visit. www.globaldownsyndrome.org.