From The President

My name is Maura Perkins and I am proud to be the newly elected Board President for the DSCBA. My passion to serve on the Board is directly related to my late Uncle William who had Down syndrome. I grew up in a loving and accepting family so as a young child I never thought of Uncle William as having special needs.

I am grateful to the current Board for electing me into this important position, as I am looking forward to giving back to the community and to serve our members. I had the opportunity to meet many of you at our 2009 Bay Area Buddy Walk. Thank you for being so welcoming!

In my first two months as Board President, I met with all board members to understand their individual and board vision for 2010. In those meetings board members expressed interest in serving our community in many different areas. Based on that feedback, education, advocacy, medical outreach and family support are examples of what we will be developing strong platforms for in 2010.

As the criteria expands and develops for our vision, the Board will need our members, their families and friends to get involved. We are currently looking for a critical role of Vice President for the Board. Remember, you do not have to be a member to be on the Board in any position. We can also benefit from an Event Coordinator and many more volunteers for fundraising events.

As a service organization the Board and staff at the Connection fully realizes that we will not be effective unless we serve our members to the best of our capacity. Please contact me anytime by email mperkins@mkni. com or by phone 888-654-8884 with your interests and suggestions. Looking forward to hearing from everyone!

Maura Perkins
President