Jamie Foxx & Luke Zimmerman honored by Global Down Syndrom Foundation's 2012

Global Down Syndrome Foundation 2012 Be Beautiful Be Yourself Raises $1.5 Million, Honors Jamie Foxx and Luke Zimmerman Quincy Jones, Natasha Bedingfield Star at Benefit for Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome Over $1.5 million was raised at the Global Down Syndrome Foundation’s 2012 Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show on Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Sheraton Downtown Denver Hotel to benefit the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome. The gala was sold out, with 1,200 people in attendance, including football legends Pat and Annabel Bowlen, and John and Paige Elway. This year, the annual event honored Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx and “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” TV star Luke Zimmerman with the 2012 Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Awards. Quincy Jones, the organization’s International Spokesman, presented the award to Foxx, while Foxx’s sister, DeOndra Dixon, who is the foundation’s 2011 Ambassador, presented the award to Zimmerman. The Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show featured the foundation’s 2012 Ambassador, 6-year-old Samantha Marcia Stevens of Massachusetts, as well as 29 other guest models who happen to have Down syndrome. They strutted the runway with celebrity escorts, including actress Virginia Williams, Denver Nuggets star players Andre Iguodala and Danilo Gallinari, and Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey. Kim Christiansen of 9News was the evening’s emcee. British singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield closed out the evening with a concert that featured dancing help from the models during her chart-topping hit “Unwritten.” The event’s live auction raised $210,000, with such exclusive offerings as Hyde Park Jewelers’ Kentucky Derby VIP package, an Indianapolis 500 experience with Buzz Calkins, and a dinner with Denver Broncos icons Pat and Annabel Bowlen, and John and Paige Elway. The money raised at the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show provides crucial funding for research, medical care, education and advocacy benefiting people with Down syndrome. Because Down syndrome is the least-funded genetic condition by the National Institutes of Health, the research and care provided by the Linda Crnic Institute at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, and the Anna and John J. Sie Center for Down Syndrome at Children’s Hospital Colorado rely heavily on private funding. The Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show is the single largest annual fundraiser benefiting people with Down syndrome. More information about this event and the Global Down Syndrome Foundation is available at www.globaldownsyndrome.org.