September 4, 2025 • 8 mins
Krissy Vinson from the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati is joined by one of the group's interns, Emily, who works alongside these dedicated social workers, families and corporate sponsors to learn new skills. The Buddy Walk to benefit their many programs is September 6, 2025, at Sawyer Point.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the second half of the show. I'm Sandy Collins.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
This is iHeart Cincy and today we're talking with Chrissy
Vincent at the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati. They've
got their largest fundraising and awareness event coming up called
the Buddy Walk, and it is just chalk full of
fun and support, resources, outreach, and advocacy for those with
Down syndrome. And Christy has brought along a very special
(00:26):
intern who lives with Down syndrome.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And what does it tell me? Your name Emily? Emily.
Are you going to be part of the Buddy Walk?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Do you have a team?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
No? No, She walks on her own with her family.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Awesome. Awesome. And Chrissy, do you have a team? You've
got all the teams.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Well, yeah, we support. We've got over four hundred teams registered.
But I actually, before I started working here, I have
two family members that had Down syndrome. So my team
is called Kathy and Teresa's Angel. My aunt Kathy passed
away when she was sixty six. She had Down syndrome,
and then my cousin Teresa was one when she passed away,
(01:09):
and so we walk in memory of them. My aunt
lived a very long, happy, healthy sixty six years, so
that was great. And then my cousin, who was more
like a niece to me, she'd be twenty four this
year she passed away from some heart complications, which now
with research and medicine they are able to fix a
(01:31):
lot of heart defects and so yeah, so it's nice
to see the progress we've made.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
And so for those who don't understand Downs syndrome, let's
can you just give a quick overview of it's a
chromosomal condition, how to manifest itself? Sure?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
So, Down syndrome occurs when there is an extra copy
of the twenty first chromosome, So there are three copies
of the twenty first chromism. So that's what we celebrate
World Down Syndrome Day actually on March twenty first, so
three twenty one, just to celebrate that extra chromosome that
makes our friends with Down syndrome extra ordinary.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Hey, Emily, how did you become involved with Chrissy's group
there at the Down Syndrome Association?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Do you remember? Did you know? Did your mom take
you down there?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah? So Emily's family has been involved with us since
Emily was very young. Her family actually is very involved
in the community in our down syndrome community. Emily's come
to so many programs that we've had, everything from cooking
classes to our independent living retreats. She's been involved in
(02:45):
an internship program here that helped prepare young adults for
working environment and office working environment. And it's a paid internship.
It's a year long and Emily had just transitioned from
her job at the hair salon, right, and so this
opportunity came up and she's been with us since January.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, what does she do as an intern? Is she
in the office?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I mean, I want you want me to say it? Yes, okay, yeah,
so Emily's in the office. Well, you can tell her
what days are you here? Mondays and Friday Thursday, yep.
And so she works with us here in the office.
But then we also have things outside of office times,
(03:34):
like our golf outing which she helps out at. She's
come to some of our events and done some public speaking.
That's one of her goals this year is to become
better at public speaking. Huh. She's doing a radio thing now,
so this is helpful.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, So, Chrissy, we've got the Buddy Walk coming up
at Sawyer Point, and it is coming up quick. Let's
talk about how folks can enjoy this beautiful one mile stroll. Basically,
it's a it's not a punishing, punishing walk, but a
nice stroll with the family and friends. Let's talk about that.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Yeah, So our Buddy Walk is coming up on Saturday,
September the sixth at Sawyer Point. Each year this walk
gets bigger and better. It's just a beautiful way to
celebrate our loved ones with Down syndrome. So it's great
about this walk is we've got moms that have maybe
just found out that they are baby has a diagnosis
of Down syndrome, so they come and experience all the
(04:36):
community and the love and the celebration. And we have
adults with Down syndrome. A young lady celebrated her sixty
ninth birthday last year at the walk, so that was
really neat too. And then anybody who wants to come
out and support the community is welcome. So the walk
starts at ten am and then throughout the walk it's
(04:57):
filled with lots of entertainment. So we have a young
man who has Down syndrome is a DJ so he DJs.
At the turn we have all sorts of cheer groups, dancing,
face painting giveaways, and then at the end of the
walk we have food and beverage for everybody, bounce houses, inflatables,
anything you can think of that's fun is at the walk.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Christy, how many people you are gonna be there? Can
you estimate?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yeah? So each year we have around fifteen thousand supporters
that come down to Sawyer Point and walk with us.
So it is a fundraising event. So people create teams
to fundraise and we have a little over four hundred
teams now and his teams are so registering. It's really
it's beautiful to walk down the Sawyer Point and see
(05:43):
thousands and thousands of people there to support your loved
one with Down syndrome.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
And one of the great ways too, is you can
join one of the teams, even if you don't know them.
You can put your money behind that team. So if
you want to jump on the bandwagon and be with
the lead team, or if you want to go down
to the bottom of the page and find the ones
that are just getting started that have just a few donations,
you can do that. But it's a great way for
you to add a little money to the walk and
(06:09):
not even have to worry about walking it yourself, especially
if mobility is difficult for you. But this is just
a great place if you haven't been to. Of course
everybody's been a Sawyer Point, but for those for those
listeners outside the area that haven't been to Sawyer Point,
it's right along the Ohio River and it is just
a beautiful tree lined area with that one mile stroll
starting at nine o'clock on Saturday the sixth. Now you're
(06:33):
registering folks in advance. You're not going to do it
the day.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Of correct, Yeah, So you can register online at buddywalksincy
with y dot org. It's just a great way to
come out and support our community. And we say it's
your day, so walk your way, so you can hop
on the walk route wherever you'd like and just kind
of spend the day with your loved one, celebrating.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Emily, have you done the walk before?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yes? Get it? And I got group too.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
There got a group.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
What's your favorite part of the Buddy Walks The souvenirs That.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Is a good one.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
The freebies and the souvenirs. Who doesn't what a giveaways?
Speaker 3 (07:18):
There. Definitely. Do you like dancing too, Yeah, dancing fun.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Dancing's fun. There'll be a lot of that, all right.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Well, if you want to find out more, I'll go
to the website and get signed up and make your
donation whatever small or large you can do, and that'll
help the folks here in the down Centrome Association of
Greater Cincinnati, their largest fundraising event and awareness for fifteen
thousand participants and donors.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Thank you so much, Chrissy for what you do. And Emily, thanks.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I think you get an A plus for your public
speaking attempt today.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Good job, em Thank you so much, Sandy. We appreciate
your support year after year.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
If you're looking for more information about the Buddy Walk Cincinnati,
Saturday morning, September the sixth, at Sawyer Point, right there
along the banks of the Ohio River, go to the
down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati website and find out
how you can get registered and help them raise three
quarters of a million dollars for this year's event. If
(08:19):
you missed any part of this show or you want
to hear it again, just go to the iHeartRadio app
and check under podcasts search for my name Sandy Collins
to listen to this episode and all of them from
iHeart Sincy.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Thanks for listening. iHeart Cincy is a production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati,
Welcome to the second half of the show. I'm Sandy Collins.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
This is iHeart Cincy and today we're talking with Chrissy
Vincent at the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati. They've
got their largest fundraising and awareness event coming up called
the Buddy Walk, and it is just chalk full of
fun and support, resources, outreach, and advocacy for those with
Down syndrome. And Christy has brought along a very special
(00:26):
intern who lives with Down syndrome.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And what does it tell me? Your name Emily? Emily.
Are you going to be part of the Buddy Walk?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Do you have a team?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
No? No, She walks on her own with her family.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Awesome. Awesome. And Chrissy, do you have a team? You've
got all the teams.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Well, yeah, we support. We've got over four hundred teams registered.
But I actually, before I started working here, I have
two family members that had Down syndrome. So my team
is called Kathy and Teresa's Angel. My aunt Kathy passed
away when she was sixty six. She had Down syndrome,
and then my cousin Teresa was one when she passed away,
(01:09):
and so we walk in memory of them. My aunt
lived a very long, happy, healthy sixty six years, so
that was great. And then my cousin, who was more
like a niece to me, she'd be twenty four this
year she passed away from some heart complications, which now
with research and medicine they are able to fix a
(01:31):
lot of heart defects and so yeah, so it's nice
to see the progress we've made.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
And so for those who don't understand Downs syndrome, let's
can you just give a quick overview of it's a
chromosomal condition, how to manifest itself? Sure?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
So, Down syndrome occurs when there is an extra copy
of the twenty first chromosome, So there are three copies
of the twenty first chromism. So that's what we celebrate
World Down Syndrome Day actually on March twenty first, so
three twenty one, just to celebrate that extra chromosome that
makes our friends with Down syndrome extra ordinary.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Hey, Emily, how did you become involved with Chrissy's group
there at the Down Syndrome Association?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Do you remember? Did you know? Did your mom take
you down there?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah? So Emily's family has been involved with us since
Emily was very young. Her family actually is very involved
in the community in our down syndrome community. Emily's come
to so many programs that we've had, everything from cooking
classes to our independent living retreats. She's been involved in
(02:45):
an internship program here that helped prepare young adults for
working environment and office working environment. And it's a paid internship.
It's a year long and Emily had just transitioned from
her job at the hair salon, right, and so this
opportunity came up and she's been with us since January.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, what does she do as an intern? Is she
in the office?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I mean, I want you want me to say it? Yes, okay, yeah,
so Emily's in the office. Well, you can tell her
what days are you here? Mondays and Friday Thursday, yep.
And so she works with us here in the office.
But then we also have things outside of office times,
(03:34):
like our golf outing which she helps out at. She's
come to some of our events and done some public speaking.
That's one of her goals this year is to become
better at public speaking. Huh. She's doing a radio thing now,
so this is helpful.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, So, Chrissy, we've got the Buddy Walk coming up
at Sawyer Point, and it is coming up quick. Let's
talk about how folks can enjoy this beautiful one mile stroll. Basically,
it's a it's not a punishing, punishing walk, but a
nice stroll with the family and friends. Let's talk about that.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Yeah, So our Buddy Walk is coming up on Saturday,
September the sixth at Sawyer Point. Each year this walk
gets bigger and better. It's just a beautiful way to
celebrate our loved ones with Down syndrome. So it's great
about this walk is we've got moms that have maybe
just found out that they are baby has a diagnosis
of Down syndrome, so they come and experience all the
(04:36):
community and the love and the celebration. And we have
adults with Down syndrome. A young lady celebrated her sixty
ninth birthday last year at the walk, so that was
really neat too. And then anybody who wants to come
out and support the community is welcome. So the walk
starts at ten am and then throughout the walk it's
(04:57):
filled with lots of entertainment. So we have a young
man who has Down syndrome is a DJ so he DJs.
At the turn we have all sorts of cheer groups, dancing,
face painting giveaways, and then at the end of the
walk we have food and beverage for everybody, bounce houses, inflatables,
anything you can think of that's fun is at the walk.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Christy, how many people you are gonna be there? Can
you estimate?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yeah? So each year we have around fifteen thousand supporters
that come down to Sawyer Point and walk with us.
So it is a fundraising event. So people create teams
to fundraise and we have a little over four hundred
teams now and his teams are so registering. It's really
it's beautiful to walk down the Sawyer Point and see
(05:43):
thousands and thousands of people there to support your loved
one with Down syndrome.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
And one of the great ways too, is you can
join one of the teams, even if you don't know them.
You can put your money behind that team. So if
you want to jump on the bandwagon and be with
the lead team, or if you want to go down
to the bottom of the page and find the ones
that are just getting started that have just a few donations,
you can do that. But it's a great way for
you to add a little money to the walk and
(06:09):
not even have to worry about walking it yourself, especially
if mobility is difficult for you. But this is just
a great place if you haven't been to. Of course
everybody's been a Sawyer Point, but for those for those
listeners outside the area that haven't been to Sawyer Point,
it's right along the Ohio River and it is just
a beautiful tree lined area with that one mile stroll
starting at nine o'clock on Saturday the sixth. Now you're
(06:33):
registering folks in advance. You're not going to do it
the day.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Of correct, Yeah, So you can register online at buddywalksincy
with y dot org. It's just a great way to
come out and support our community. And we say it's
your day, so walk your way, so you can hop
on the walk route wherever you'd like and just kind
of spend the day with your loved one, celebrating.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Emily, have you done the walk before?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yes? Get it? And I got group too.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
There got a group.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
What's your favorite part of the Buddy Walks The souvenirs That.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Is a good one.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
The freebies and the souvenirs. Who doesn't what a giveaways?
Speaker 3 (07:18):
There. Definitely. Do you like dancing too, Yeah, dancing fun.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Dancing's fun. There'll be a lot of that, all right.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Well, if you want to find out more, I'll go
to the website and get signed up and make your
donation whatever small or large you can do, and that'll
help the folks here in the down Centrome Association of
Greater Cincinnati, their largest fundraising event and awareness for fifteen
thousand participants and donors.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Thank you so much, Chrissy for what you do. And Emily, thanks.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I think you get an A plus for your public
speaking attempt today.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Good job, em Thank you so much, Sandy. We appreciate
your support year after year.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
If you're looking for more information about the Buddy Walk Cincinnati,
Saturday morning, September the sixth, at Sawyer Point, right there
along the banks of the Ohio River, go to the
down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati website and find out
how you can get registered and help them raise three
quarters of a million dollars for this year's event. If
(08:19):
you missed any part of this show or you want
to hear it again, just go to the iHeartRadio app
and check under podcasts search for my name Sandy Collins
to listen to this episode and all of them from
iHeart Sincy.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Thanks for listening. iHeart Cincy is a production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com