Ten-year-old Connor Nielsen and his family will be accepting a $5,000.00 check Thursday, March 28th, 2007 at The UPS Store located at 8524 W. Gage Blvd. Kennewick, WA at 9:30am.  The check will be presented to the Nielsen family by Ken Tysor, the area representative for The UPS Stores. This donation comes from the We Deliver Dreams Foundation, a non-profit corporation to deliver dreams of children who are significantly impacted by abuse, neglect, violence or illness. Dream requests are sponsored by The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc.  Franchisees (such as the one owned by Ryan and Christine Nielsen). This donation will go toward the creation of a puppet with Tourette syndrome for the "Count Me In" puppet program)an affiliation of The Arc of the Tri-Cities). The program is designed to dispel myths and fears regarding disabilities to children thru skits used with the puppets. Thus far, the "Count Me In" program has puppets, scripts and skits to educate youngsters about Blindness, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, ADHD, Learning Disabilities and Autism. For the Nielsen's, however, this dream request holds great personal significance. Their ten-year-old son Connor has Tourette syndrome. Most people associate Tourette's as the cursing disability. Although Tourette's is a neurological disability and is characterized by involuntary tics both vocal and in movement, less than 30% of those with Tourette;s have that particular part of the disability. Connor's dream is that a puppet and skit explaining Tourette syndrome will help educate not only his peers, but all children here in the Tri-Cities, as well as those nationwide. The "Count Me In" program is a national program and recently has gone international.  This donation from the "We Deliver Dreams" foundation will help Connor accomplish his dream. Connor's mother, Christine, quoted "Please know that this dream request touches more than just one child's life. It teaches all of us about those with visible as well as hidden disabilities, and that we all matter. Whether you are a star athlete, or in a wheelchair, we all want the same thing: to be "Counted In". Contact person: The UPS Store @ 783-5900 or Christine Nielsen @ 531-0152. Posted by Colleen Lane on
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