Gail Marino, who founded the Gold Coast Down Syndrome organization,
which now serves 350 families, with her daugher Kim.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Mary Thurwachter
Gail Marino will never forget the day her daughter Kim was born, 39 years ago.
“My whole life changed,” the Boca Raton mother said. And, even though she didn’t realize it then — the day her doctor told her it would be best to give up her baby girl — it changed her life “for the better.”
Kim was born with Down syndrome, a genetic condition caused by an extra chromosome that occurs in one out of every 691 births. Up until that time, Marino didn’t know anyone who had it.
“I had no clue what to expect,” she said. But she and her husband, living in New York at the time, didn’t have a child just to give her up, no matter what.
She found people who were supportive and she learned everything she could about Down syndrome.
When her husband, Gary, took a job in Florida in 1979, the family moved to Boca Raton.
“I found they really didn’t have anything in the schools for kids with Down syndrome,” Marino said, and she fought for inclusion.
When she didn’t find a support group, she gathered some mothers together and founded the Gold Coast Down Syndrome organization (www.goldcoastdownsyndrome.org), a nonprofit family support and resource group. It now serves 350 families and is dedicated to making the future brighter for those with Down syndrome and other disabilities in Palm Beach County.
“I’m not the type of person to sit around,” she said. “I started with a little group of moms. It was, at first, a coffee klatch.”
But the next year, in 1980, GCDS incorporated.
“All we want for our kids is to be accepted and valued,” she said. “I got Kim into Spanish River High School, but it wasn’t easy.”
The organization has been bolstered over the years by the annual Buddy Walk, which made its debut 20 years ago.
“We started with family picnics, and then when the Buddy Walks came along we combined the two,” she said. “It wasn’t a fundraiser when we started. It was all about awareness.”
And oh, how the walk has grown. Last year, 2,800 walkers participated and netted $175,000.
“We’re expecting 3,000 or more (walkers) this year,” said Marino, 69. She will be at the walk on Oct. 19 at John Prince Park with Kim, who is already in training.
“It (the walk) has just been amazing for us,” she said. “It’s helped us have all kinds of wonderful programs.” Many of those programs weren’t there for Kim but are helping so many today.
But Kim is doing just fine, her mom said. She has an office job and “she loves it, and they love her.”
Since high school, Kim has learned to read, something many said wasn’t possible for her.
This year, Kim, one of Marino’s three adult children (with Tanya and David), “became an auntie,” her mother said.
Kim also is a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, where she lost 52 pounds and kept it off for five years. She walks at least 10,000 steps a day, and if she hasn’t accomplished that by the end of the day, she climbs on the treadmill to complete the task.
“I’m so proud of her,” Marino, whose family is moving into a new home in eastern Boca Raton, said. “She’s the blessing of my life.”
If You Go
The Buddy Walk: A family fun morning of walking followed by children’s activities and a silent auction and raffle, provides most of the funds for Gold Coast operations.
When: Sunday, Oct. 19. Registration at 8 a.m., opening ceremonies start at 8:45 a.m., and the walk follows at 9:15 a.m..
Where: John Prince Park Center Pavilion, 4759 S. Congress Ave., Lake Worth.
Info: Call 752-3383 or visit www.goldcoastdownsyndrome.org
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