Footprint Makes An Imprint On Down Syndrome Awareness

The Chippewa Herald:

Katia was looking for a Down syndrome awareness idea – something she could display to show she is the proud and loving mother of a Down syndrome child.

All she could find was a blue and yellow ribbon that, frankly, few people know about.

“No one ever asked me what my blue and yellow ribbon was for,” Katia said.

One day talking about it, Mike asked what she thought of when she thought of Annaliese.

“I remembered her footprint. Mike thought of that, too.”

Katia had her sister make her a window decal of a footprint with an exaggerated gap between the toes. She put Annaliese’s name on it.

That’s when people started to ask. They asked about the gap and learned something about Down syndrome. Word spread, and they started to get requests for similar items.

“We put up some stuff on the Internet and we had people sending us pictures of their children’s feet,” Katia said.

Research revealed that they had the first symbol for Down syndrome, nationally and internationally, that was not an awareness ribbon.

Sensing they were on to something, they spoke with Eau Claire attorney Tony Bourget, a specialist in intellectual property rights. They locked up the trademark and started plans for a product line.

Screenshot From Down Syndrome Footprint

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