Hunger Games Actress Sofia Sanchez and Other Celebrities Sign on to Raise Critical Funds for Global Down Syndrome Foundation
18 Julio 2024 - 12:14PM
Today, Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL) announced a
fantastic celebrity lineup for its annual Be Beautiful Be Yourself
Fashion Show, the largest Down syndrome fundraiser in the world:
“Hunger Games” actress Sofia Sanchez; award-winning film and TV
actor John C. McGinley; beloved actress from the longest primetime
TV drama on ABC, “Grey’s Anatomy” Caterina Scorsone, and her
co-stars Alexis Floyd, Anthony Hill and Niko Terho; model and
actress Amanda Booth; actress and model Shelly Henning; and
award-winning local NBC anchor Kim Christiansen, will emcee the
event. In its 16th year, the award-winning event will be held on
Saturday, November 16 at the
Sheraton Denver Downtown
Hotel. Proceeds will benefit GLOBAL’s life-saving and
transformative research and medical care.
The event will honor Zaya Biel, the incoming
GLOBAL Ambassador, and Sofia Sanchez will receive GLOBAL’s
Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award. Zaya a fiery
five-year-old who lives in Cabo, Mexico with her mom, dad, and
three-year-old brother Ziggy. Having overcome serious health
challenges as an infant, Ambassador Zaya has blossomed into a
vivacious young girl with a passion for dancing and zest for life.
She loves spending time with her family, especially her little
brother, and together they enjoy sunset walks, horseback riding,
and yoga. Ambassador Zaya and her family will work closely with
GLOBAL to make sure it raises both funds and awareness towards
elongating life and improving health outcomes for children and
adults with Down syndrome.
Ukrainian American actress, model, author, and self-advocate
Sofia Sanchez will receive GLOBAL’s highest merit honor—the Quincy
Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award. Past recipients
include Jamie Foxx, DeOndra Dixon,
Madison Tevlin, Bobby Farrelly, Caterina
Scorsone, Eric Dane, Jamie Brewer, Colin
Farrell, Tim Harris, John Lynch, Zack
Gottsagen, John C. McGinley, Karen Gaffney,
Eva Longoria, Frank Stephens, Kyra Phillips,
Marián Ávila and Beverly Johnson.
Sofia Sanchez got her start seven years ago with her viral video
“Down Syndrome is Not Scary,” followed by her acting debut in the
2015 television series “Switched at Birth.” In the summer of 2023,
Sofia appeared at the “Barbie” movie premiere dressed as the
first-ever Barbie with Down syndrome, which earned her a place on
the best-dressed lists across major reporting channels. In November
2023, Sofia earned her first major motion picture role: Wovey in
“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” Also in
April of this year, she was the youngest person with Down syndrome
to take the stage and present a TEDx Talk on “The Power of
Bravery.”
“We are thrilled to have Ambassador Zaya and Quincy Jones
Awardee Sofia Sanchez officially join the GLOBAL family,” says
GLOBAL President & CEO, Michelle Sie Whitten. “Both these young
women are brilliant and beautiful role models who are helping us
break stereotypes and showing the world that if society gives us a
chance, people with Down syndrome can reach their goals and live
their dreams. But we have to have good health and a long life to
succeed. With help from our celebrity friends and the community’s
generous support, we’re so pleased that GLOBAL is able to deliver
on that through our groundbreaking research and medical care.”
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 over $140 million in 2024.
Proceeds from the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show support
the important work of GLOBAL and GLOBAL’s affiliates, including a
team of over 400 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 2,500 patients from 33 states and 10
countries at the Anna and John J. Sie Center at Children’s
Hospital Colorado.
To learn more,
visit: https://bebeautifulbeyourself.org/
To buy tickets,
visit: https://bebeautifulbeyourself.org/2022-be-beautiful-be-yourself-fashion-show-tickets/
For celebrity interviews, additional information, imagery, or to
cover the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show, please contact
trishdavis0707@gmail.com, For more information on the Global Down
Syndrome Foundation, please visit www.globaldownsyndrome.org.
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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 400 scientists and over 2,500
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
100 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 & Newborn Down Syndrome Information,
and the award-winning magazine Down Syndrome World TM.
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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- 2024 Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show
Honorees/Celebrities
Trisha Davis
Global Down Syndrome Foundation
(818) 640-9259
trishdavis0707@gmail.com
Anca Call
Global Down Syndrome Foundation
(720) 320-3832
Acall@globaldownsyndrome.org