Dear Family and Friends of DSIG,
The board has been busy gearing up for next year. We are always looking for ideas and topics for our regular monthly meetings and activities. If you have an idea or a suggestion please feel free to reach out to Megan Califano.
We have made changes to our Executive Board, the board members for 2016:
- Patty White, will remain as President.
- Megan Califano, will continue as the activities coordinator.
- Yuhanna Bishar, will continue as the treasurer.
- Shirley Bishar, will remain on the board as a member.
- Paul Thomas is joining the board for 2016
- Madelyn Haines and Bill Haines are also new members of the board. Madelyn and Bill have a grandson, Duncan who has Down syndrome, however he and his family have recently moved out of the country. In an effort to become more involved with the Down syndrome community they reached out to our group.
We are always looking for new board members; we are currently looking to fill the open positions of Vice President and Secretary. If you are interesting in supporting this group, we would love to have you join us!
It’s that time of year again!!!!! Annual Membership registration is now due! If you are unsure if you paid, please check with Patty. We are collecting 2016 annual dues of $10. Like last year, the board is enforcing the payment of annual dues in order to participate in the wonderful events that we host throughout the year. Our organization is funded by our annual walk-a-thon and by membership dues. Please turn in your membership dues, our organization loves having you as a member.
In an effort to provide more “age appropriate” activities, the board has decided to split up certain group activities based on your child’s age. We will still have combined monthly meetings, Parents Night Out, holiday party and the summer picnic; however, all other activities will be broken out into groups: Birth to 5 years, 6-12 years, 13-20 years, and 21 years and over. We are actively seeking a parent or a group of parents to take “ownership” for each of these groups. Being an owner means that you will be responsible for planning and coordinating the event(s) for your group. Your group would be given a budget to be used at your (and the board’s) discretion. Megan Califano will be leading the 6-12 year old group. Please reach out to Megan Califano if you would like more information or if you are interested in leading a group.
The Birth – 5 years group is already off and running under the direction of Christa Ventura and Kelsey Mango. They have created a closed Facebook group, “DCDSIG Parents of Kids 0-5” for this age group to communicate about their activities and have already planned two fun activities for the months of January and February. If you have a little one in this age group, and DSIG has your e-mail address, you should have already been contacted by them via e-mail re: the activities they are planning. If you have not received an e-mail, please feel free to reach out to: Christa at [email protected] or Kelsey at [email protected].
As stated above, Megan Califano will be leading the 6-12 year group, so if you have a child in that age group and would like to help Megan plan activities for that group, please be in touch with Megan at [email protected].
If you have a young person who is ages 13-20 years and you would like to help organize the activities for that group, please be in touch with Megan.
The annual DSIG Teen and Young Adult Valentine Party is in the process of being planned for those members who are age 13 and above and thus will combine members from the 13-20 year group and the 21 and above group. That event is being planned under the leadership of Carol Csaniz and Karen Tyler.
In closing, we would like to thank you for your dedication to our group and we look forward to a new and exciting year!
Thank you,
Your DSIG Board
