RiteWay staff wear 'wacky' coloured socks for World Down Syndrome Day
World Down Syndrome Day is celebrated on March 21 and allows persons around the world to choose their own events and activities in an effort to help raise awareness of what Down Syndrome is and what it means to have Down Syndrome. This allows persons with Down Syndrome to play a vital role within the community.
According to the World Down Syndrome Day website, March 21 was selected to celebrate this day because it signifies the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the twenty-first chromosome which causes Down Syndrome.
"Odd socks" were chosen as a symbol for WDSD worldwide because chromosomes are shaped like socks, and those with Down Syndrome have an extra one.
“RTW committed to giving back to community” - Allison L. Scatliffe
In an exclusive interview with Allison L. Scatliffe, Marketing Brand Manager for RiteWay Food Market, she stated that Social Development Department contacted them and asked them to observe WDSD by allowing two individuals with Down Syndrome to work with the staff for two hours as a store assistant and a store greeter.
She said, “In observing World Down Syndrome Awareness Day, we had two students that were store assistants or store greeters. We agreed because Road Town Wholesale (RTW) is committed to giving back to the community and also we tend to include differently abled persons, so this was a great opportunity for us to have them on board working with us.”
Differently abled persons should feel “appreciated & welcomed”- Georgene P. Henry
Meanwhile, speaking with Georgene P. Henry, Programme Aid at the BVI Health Services Day Programme for adults with disabilities, she stated that each year the department tries to involve persons with Down Syndrome in various activities across the territory in order to make them feel “appreciated and welcomed.”
She also commented that the Day Programme falls under the Disability Services Unit of Social Development which falls under the Ministry of Health and Social Development, which is supervised by Mrs Lorna Dawson.
“Today is World Down Syndrome Awareness Day and one of the things we try to do is include participants in various activities across Tortola in different establishments and RiteWay has been so gracious enough to allow us to bring two of our participants with Down Syndrome here to spend two hours with them. RiteWay staff is really on board and everybody came in their coloured socks and that was a good thing because it made the participants feel welcomed and appreciated,” explained Ms Henry.
She continued, “BVI Health Services Authority has a day programme for adults with disabilities under the Social Development Department and we have different levels of disabilities, Down Syndrome being one of them, Autism and Mild Mental Retardation among others."
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10 Responses to “RiteWay staff wear 'wacky' coloured socks for World Down Syndrome Day”
It's very nice what they did today for those young men cause they all want to feel normal.