Denver, CO, June 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Global
Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL) announced celebrities Caterina
Scorsone and John C. McGinley will attend its
annual Be
Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show, the largest Down
syndrome fundraiser in the world. In its 14th year,
the award-winning event will be held in-person on Saturday,
November 12, at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel. Proceeds
benefit GLOBAL’s life-saving and transformative research and
medical care.
This year, the inspirational event will honor
GLOBAL Ambassador Micah Quinones, a young model who
happens to have the dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and
autism. He is the son of supermodel, actress, and GLOBAL
Spokesperson and 2022 Event Chair, Amanda Booth, and
creative director and brand strategist Mike Quinones.
At just eight years old, Micah has already been featured
alongside his parents in People Magazine, Harper’s
Bazaar, Parents, and other national media outlets and
has modeled for fashion companies like Dôen.
“I’m excited to be chairing this year’s
fashion show and so proud to see Micah honored as a GLOBAL
Ambassador,” says Amanda Booth. “Our family has been part of
the GLOBAL family for 8 years now, and we are blown away by
what Michelle and the GLOBAL team have achieved for our
children and adults with Down syndrome. They are delivering
on increasing lifespan and improved health, so I hope we
break all sorts of records this year!”
Award-winning Grey’s Anatomy star Eric
Dane and Author & Self-Advocate David Egan will
receive GLOBAL’s highest honor – the Quincy Jones
Exceptional Advocacy Award. Past recipients include Jamie
Foxx, Caterina Scorsone, Colin Farrell, John
C. McGinley, Eva Longoria, Kyra Phillips,
and Beverly Johnson.
Eric Dane is best known for his role as Dr.
Mark Sloan on ABC’s hit drama series, Grey’s Anatomy, for
which he has won a Screen Actors Guild Award and been
nominated for a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Cable TV
Actor. He has also starred in popular movies such as Valentine’s
Day and Burlesque, and TV shows including The
Last Ship and, most recently, the highly acclaimed Euphoria. Dane
is an active philanthropist and has been a long-time
supporter of GLOBAL and the Down syndrome community.
David Egan is an accomplished athlete,
author, public speaker, and life-long advocate for people
with Down syndrome. He has served as a Special Olympics
Sargent Shriver International Global Messenger and a Joseph
P. Kennedy Jr. Public Policy Fellow, and he is an active
participant in research and works with the National
Institutes of Health Down Syndrome Consortium. Egan has
keynoted several GLOBAL research symposia and is a member of
the GLOBAL AcceptAbility Gala Committee. He recently
published his first book, More Alike Than Different: My
Life with Down Syndrome, which has been met with both
critical and popular success.
“We lost a lot of people with Down syndrome
to COVID over the last two years, so we are thrilled to turn
this corner and come back with our most magical Be Beautiful
Be Yourself Fashion Show,” says Michelle Sie Whitten,
GLOBAL President and CEO. “We are deeply grateful to
everyone who supported us through the pandemic, and we are
proud to have protected so many lives and to know that our
government advocacy and research is delivering on elongating
life and improving health outcomes. I personally can’t wait
to watch our models rock that runway!”
GLOBAL’s advocacy and lobbying efforts with
Congress and outreach to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
have resulted in an unprecedented increase of the national
Down syndrome research budget, from $27 million in 2016 to
$115 million in 2022.
Proceeds from the Be Beautiful Be Yourself
Fashion Show support the important work of GLOBAL and
GLOBAL’s affiliates, including a team of over 200 scientists
working on breakthrough life-saving research at the Linda
Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the CU
Alzheimer’s & Cognition Center, and a dream team of
medical professionals providing excellent medical care to
over 2,200 patients from 33 states and 10 countries at the Anna
and John J. Sie Center at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
The Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show
features 20+ brilliant and beautiful models with Down
syndrome, Hollywood celebrities, renowned athletes, and
philanthropists from all over the world who join GLOBAL
every year to be inspired and raise funds for people with
Down syndrome.
To learn more, visit: https://bebeautifulbeyourself.org/
To buy tickets, visit: https://bebeautifulbeyourself.org/2022-be-beautiful-be-yourself-fashion-show-tickets/
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About Global Down Syndrome Foundation
The Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL)
is the largest non-profit in the U.S. working to save lives
and dramatically improve health outcomes for people with
Down syndrome. GLOBAL has donated more than $32 million to
establish the first Down syndrome research institute
supporting over 200 scientists and over 2,200 patients with
Down syndrome from 33 states and 10 countries. Working
closely with Congress and the National Institutes of Health,
GLOBAL is the lead advocacy organization in the U.S. for
Down syndrome research and care. GLOBAL has a membership of
over 120 Down syndrome organizations worldwide, and is part
of a network of Affiliates – the
Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, the
Sie Center for Down Syndrome, and the
University of Colorado Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center –
all on the Anschutz Medical Campus.
GLOBAL’s widely circulated medical
publications include Global
Medical Care Guidelines for Adults with Down Syndrome, Prenatal
Testing and Information about Down Syndrome, and the
award-winning magazine Down
Syndrome WorldTM. GLOBAL also organizes
the Be
Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show, the largest Down
syndrome fundraiser in the world. Visit
globaldownsyndrome.org and follow us on social media (Facebook
& Twitter: @GDSFoundation, Instagram: @globaldownsyndrome).
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