EFDSN’s Special Friends group is for young girls, ages 9 and above. We have split the group into two age groups for most events – a school age group for ages 9 to 15, and a young adults group for ages 16 on up. Through out the school year, the group meets monthly.  Collectively, the group leaders and the girls choose which activities would be the most fun and which community service projects they would like to work on. Some of the fun social events organized have been a fairy tea party, a pumpkin patch visit, pottery painting at Brush Fire, and a relaxing movie night. The group also, as a whole, makes a difference in the community by volunteering for certain events.

Special Friends kicked off the new school year together with a spooktacular time at the 5^th Street Public Market Pumpkin Festival.  The girls has a good time sipping hot chocolate and viewing the all the different carved pumpkins.  By far the group favorites were the glittery U of O pumpkins. 

November and December plans are underway! To learn more about Special Friends or join their next activity, please go to our Contact Us page or contact the group leader listed below. Special Friends scheduled events will be listed on the Upcoming Events and on the home page.

                School Age Girls Group                    Young Adults Group

                   Ages 9 – 15 years old                  Ages 16 years old and up

             Contact: Mary Beth Lennox             Contact: Sydney Shook

                  marybeth@efdsn.org                       Sydney@efdsn.org

HISTORY of Special Friends: Special Friends began as a group for girls with Down Syndrome ages 12 to 21. The Special Friends group was founded in 2006 by University of Oregon student Brittany Ewalt. Brittany had the vision and drive to start a group which celebrates friendship for young adult and teen girls who have Down Syndrome. When she started out, she did this all on her own, spending hours trying to connect with families and promoting the group. Due to privacy issues, there is no magical list to show which family in the area has a daughter with Down Syndrome. Brittany had to connect with families one connection at a time. In a very short period of time, she met 6 families. We were introduced to Brittany in December 2006 through a family who was involved with Special Friends.

As of June 2008, we bid farewell to Brittany upon her graduation from the U of O. However, as a network, we were able to bring her group under our EFDSN "umbrella" to provide financial support and to secure the groups long term sustainability.