Omaha walk, festival held to raise awareness for Down Syndrome

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - One in every 775 babies are born with Down Syndrome in the United States. On Sunday, thousands of people gathered at the Riverfront to raise awareness for them.

Participation numbers at the event continue to grow. Event Coordinator Samantha Kruse said there were around 3,000 people signed up to take part in the 2024 walk.

This year marked the first time the event was held at Heartland of America Park .

"We are so excited to be partnering with the Riverfront this year," Kruse said. "It has been such an amazing collaboration. Especially moving to this location, it's really raised the visibility of the area. We're just so excited for that partnership."

Kruse said the event was created to bring awareness to resources within the Down Syndrome community; both locally and across the region.

In addition to dozens of booths from local agencies, there's a fundraising walk. The half-mile route raises money for families who are directly impacted by the disorder.

"Having DSA here locally is amazing. I have two older children as well. I have an 11 year old and a 7 year old," said Maggie Funkhouser, an area mom to Fox, who has Down Syndrome.

Funkhouser continued, "It's definitely helped normalize things for them and realize that, yes Fox has down syndrome but he's still their brother and he's still Fox. All of these individuals and families here, they're just like anybody else."

Kruse said 150 volunteers worked to coordinate the event. They had a goal of raising $155,000 for families.

"A lot of people, unless you know somebody or have met somebody with down syndrome, don't know a lot about down syndrome," Kruse said. "So, it's a great way to spread awareness in the community so people are more aware."

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month . DSA is hosting various events throughout the month to recognize the community. You can learn more about those here .