Be Beautiful Be Yourself

Tim Harris owns his own restaurant in New Mexico, where lots of great food, atmosphere and hugs abound. He has a great girlfriend, was homecoming king at his high school, lots of friends, and, as more than 1,400 guests could attest to, can vamp on the runway almost as good as DeOndra Dixon.

Tim, on hand at the Global Down Syndrome Foundation “Be Beautiful Be Yourself 2013” event, was like a magnet of sunshine and jovial camaraderie as he accepted the Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award, telling the enthusiastic crowd at the Sheraton Downtown Denver, “I’m following my dream….are you??”

Tim, who by the way was born with Down Syndrome, was part of an off-the-charts energetic program that has become one of the gems of Denver, and Washington DC’s, philanthropic circuit. Award-winning national journalist Kyra Phillips also accepted a Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award, and the 2013 Down Syndrome Ambassadors, their friends and family all took to the runway for a fashion show.

Celebrities such as model Beverly Johnson, NFL star Eric Dickerson, actor John McGinley, Todd Park Mohr of Bighead Todd and the Monsters (who later performed), Nuggets first round draft pick Kenneth Faried, Fox News’ John Roberts and several others were dwarfed by the magnetism and exuberance from the 2013 Ambassadors: Sophia Kay Whitten, Chase Turner Perry, Katherine Vollbracht Winfield, DeOndra Dixon and Samantha Marcia Stevens. Adding further effervescence to the runway were models Sofia Aarestad, Hayden Boisseaux, Opheal Bordeaux, Beth Burczyk, Tait Graham Davis, Natalie MIchelle Fuller, Kennedy Garcia, Stephen Lawson, Ben Levine, Rafi Mednick, Lexi Puga, Alexandra Shankle, Kristina Sisneros and Katie Smith. 

Global Executive Director Michelle Sie Whitten could hardly contain her excitement again this year for all the support her cause received from her parents, Anna and John Sie, event chair Ricki Rest and A-list supporters from around the region.

The 5th anniversary show was a fundraiser for the Linda Crnic Institute and the Sie Center for Down Syndrome. For more information, visit GlobalDownSyndrome.org. And look inside yourself to see if YOU are following your dream.