Down syndrome and D.A.D.S.- Get it Down 31 for 21 : Post 2

Click on the button for more information on th Get It Down- 31 for 21 challenge! Just being a DAD, that's all. Nothing more. All you DADS, join up on this email loop with the greatest group of guys ever. Like my wonderful husband, dad to the Tater says...it ain't about coffee in Styrofoam cups, sitting around in the basement of a church on metal folding chairs. It's about being a DAD. And D.A.D.S is going international. Already has really as Australia has a chapter. More info from DADS founder Joe Meares: Attention ALL D.A.D.S. chapters AND DS Organizations who are planning to start a D.A.D.S. group! (And Both Nationals….we want to link you guys too!) Dads Appreciating Down Syndrome, Indianapolis, is in the first phase of a $20,000 website project. Phase one, is the INTERNATIONAL SITE, which will provide links and information for D.A.D.S. chapters, DS groups with D.A.D.S. programs AND D.A.D.S. groups planned. (We want to include those in the planning stages so a new father, from a web search can talk to someone locally.) The first phase of the website will be up and running by January. (The second phase is our local Indianapolis page, which is planned for later in 2008) One thing that happens: at conferences, we provide the tools and building blocks to get a D.A.D.S. group started, and then…they do! D.A.D.S. chapters start their own list serve, get their meetings going and….until we meet at another conference…we, D.A.D.S.-Indianapolis, loose touch. (It is always a pleasant surprise to find out D.A.D.S. chapters have started) That’s certainly a good thing, BUT….with our new interactive website, we want to get all the D.A.D.S. chapters CONNECTED! ONCE you respond, Ted Scofield, our Indy D.A.D.S. member who is leading this project, will email you with all the features, bells, whistles and options of the web-site. D.A.D.S. chapters, please provide: One or two key contacts; Group name, i.e., D.A.D.S.-Miami Valley; Ds organizational affiliate; Web site info; Email; Phone numbers for D.A.D.S. contact and Ds organization; Geographical area which you cover. Those of you (individuals and Ds organizations) who have requested material, or received material at a conference and PLAN to get a D.A.D.S. group going-----PLEASE DO THE SAME. EVEN IF your group isn’t structured yet, just having a fathers name and contact info COULD be helpful to a new father looking around on the web! JUST a dad who is willing to talk to new fathers in a specific area will be included. Part of the D.A.D.S. Indianapolis mission is the development of new D.A.D.S. chapters. We include $10,000 in our budget each year for printing brochures, handbooks, and expenses related to helping new chapters get started and existing chapters grow. The website budget is an additional expense we decided worth spending. However, the only way our investment can pay dividends is to have all D.A.D.S. groups and Ds organizations (who value fathers---lol) CONNECTED to this vehicle! IF you have specific questions about how this site will function, please contact Ted Scofield, ted@scofieldesign.com (Please ask Ted! My standard answer is---IT better do everything a small sedan will do for $20,000!!!) IF you need D.A.D.S. brochures for your Buddy Walk, please contact me with mailing address. joemeares@in-motion.net (I’m qualified to put stuff in the mail!) Thank you in advance for your quick response. PLEASE do not ASSUME (and, I can name the guys who will) we have your info. Even if we do, it’s time to update. “To assist and support, through fellowship and ACTION, the fathers and families of individuals with Down syndrome” is OUR mission. It’s time foe ACTION. Please help make our investment worthwhile! Joe Meares, D.A.D.S. Development Director