Bubblers score off-field win

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The Boiling Springs softball team rallies around a teammate's brother.

Friday, May 07, 2010

BY ADAM KULIKOWSKI akulikowski45@gmail.com

Boiling Springs coach Steve Darchicourt had every reason April 28 to be proud of his softball team.

Jordan Darchicourt pitched a three-inning no-hit shutout -- spoiled only by a lone walk to the first batter she faced.

And the Bubblers clubbed Harrisburg 15-0.

Both certainly brought a smile to the coach's face.

But it is what the team did after they came off the field that mattered most. They attended a fundraiser for the Central Pennsylvania Down Syndrome Awareness Group at Chili's Restaurant.

For the Bubblers, the nonprofit holds special meaning: Sophomore third baseman Kait Fox's younger brother, Carson, has Down syndrome.

Throughout the season, the Bubblers have made the 5-year-old Carson part of the team, visiting him in the stands after games.

But on April 28, the team did more.

After attending the event at Chili's -- which donated 10 percent of proceeds from the meals during the nonprofit's event -- Darchicourt and the team decided to hold their own fundraiser to help support the organization.

The team will host a car wash May 15 at Metro Bank at 65 Ashland Ave. in Carlisle to raise additional funds.

It says a lot about the character of the girls and how they have come together as one team in such a short period of time.

Each player has different challenges every day on the field, but participating with the organization brings the message home that there are far greater challenges for us all to take on besides those in the game of softball.

The gesture nearly made Heather Fox-Kauffman, Carson and Kait's mother and CPADSAG co-founder, cry.

"I'm totally overwhelmed with this group of girls," Fox-Kauffman said, "how they want to give back to their community and help where ever they can. My heart just is overwhelmed.

"And I'm amazed at their willingness to give up a Saturday to wash cars and get nothing out of it personally except the satisfaction that the proceeds will go toward helping the individuals with Down syndrome."

Fox-Kauffman, along with Brian and Cori Guillaume and Andy Smarr, founded the nonprofit in 2008 as a way to collect donations for a fundraising walk to raise awareness for Down syndrome. Proceeds are used to provide grants to families that aid in promoting personal development of individuals with Down syndrome.

For more information on the Central Pennsylvania Down Syndrome Awareness Group, go to www.cpadsag. org

Down syndrome group making an impact

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By Greg Gross, Sentinel Reporter, March 7, 2010

Last updated: Monday, March 8, 2010 10:58 PM EST

In Focus
Each Monday, The Sentinel revisits a compelling person or issue covered in the past.

This week’s story revisits the Central Pennsylvania Down Syndrome Awareness Group, which was founded by local parents of children with Down syndrome.

For more information about the group, check out their Web site at www.cpadsag.org.

It began as chance encounters by total strangers and has become a group of friends that are more like family.

What the three Carlisle families have in common is that they all have a child with Down syndrome.

That spurred them to create a non-profit organization, the Central Pennsylvania Down Syndrome Awareness Group, that promotes awareness of Down syndrome, said Brian Guilliaume, a founding member and president of the group.

“I felt there was a need for this group in the community,” he said.

Guilliaume’s son, Anthony, 6, has Down syndrome.

About six years ago, Cori Guilliaume, Brian Guilliaume’s wife, met Tori Smarr while in a local store. Smarr’s son Nicholas also has Down syndrome.

In 2007, Heather Fox-Kauffman, vice president of the group, found Cori Guilliaume after reading a short story she wrote in a book called “Gifts,” which is a collection of stories written by mothers who have children with Down syndrome.

Fox-Kauffman noted that the Guilliaumes were listed as being from Carlisle and promptly looked them up in the phone book and called them.

Her adopted son Carson, 5, has Down syndrome.

That was on a Friday night, Fox-Kauffman said, and by Sunday, the two families were eating ice cream and brownies on the deck of the Guilliaume’s home.

“When we met, it was an instant connection,” she added.

Growth

Before meeting the Guilliaumes, Fox-Kauffman said she hadn’t known any other families in the area who had a child with Down syndrome.

Meeting them allowed her to ask questions that had been lingering.

“It was something we so desperately needed,” Fox-Kauffman said.

It also proved to be a friendship for both family’s children. Fox-Kauffman said the two families meet about once a week so the boys can play.

With the awareness group in its second official year as a non-profit organization, Cori Guilliaume said, it has grown by leaps and bounds.

When September rolls around, the group will sponsor its third annual Buddy Walk, a fundraising event held at Carlisle Area High School. The walk was established by the National Down Syndrome Society to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October and to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome.

Though there are a number of walks held around the county, there wasn’t a local one until the group got its walk started, Cori Guilliaume said.

Money raised from the walk remains local and is used to help fund the group’s events and is given out in the form of grants to families to promote the personal development of those with Down syndrome, she said.

The group also puts on family-focus nights that provides information to families with a member who has Down syndrome.

Though it’s tough to say how large the group has become, Cori Guilliaume said, attendance at events is never lacking. Over 300 people attended the 2009 Buddy Walk.

The group has even grown to include three would-be mothers whose unborn children were diagnosed with Down syndrome through prenatal screening.

Over 80 percent of fetuses that are diagnosed with Down syndrome are terminated, Cori Guilliaume said. She said the group is looking to reach out to more women who fall under that category.

Then there’s the wild side of the group.

In February, they held a belated Valentine’s Day dance and party at the community center in Giant Food Stores’ Camp Hill location.

The dance was open to anyone, Brian Guilliaume said, and was the site of at least one first date. Around 125 people attended the dance, he added.

“Everyone walked away smiling,” Brian Guilliaume said.

As for the future, Cori Guilliaume and Fox-Kauffman said the sky’s the limit.

They said they’d like to see the group to continue to grow and for it to evolve into full-time gigs for them. Fox-Kauffman said she’d like to see a facility open to work specifically with people with Down syndrome.

“We are hoping to continue to grow and hold more events with families with Down syndrome,” Cori Guilliaume said.