Auction raises R258 000 for Up with Downs

GEORGE NEWS - This year the annual Up with Downs 'Go for Gold' wine auction held on Friday 20 May at Fancourt netted a whopping R258 000 from the sale of the wine alone.

An overjoyed Janet Seegmuller, founder and chairperson of Up with Downs said all the wine auctioned was donated by 22 wine farms in the Western Cape. "The money raised is going towards the building of the Up with Downs adult home. At present, there are 10 adults at Up with Downs, who will someday need somewhere to live.

Their parents are not getting younger, and the need for a home where they can live happily for the rest of their lives, is becoming a priority. We have purchased a plot opposite the school and are hoping to start building in 2017. The money raised at the auction will hopefully be enough to get the project off the ground sooner rather than later," said Seegmuller.

Sheri Brynard, the 34-year-old international ambassador for people living with Down syndrome, was the keynote speaker at the fundraiser. as As a qualified teacher, Brynard, who hails from Bloemfontein, is the only person in South Africa with Down syndrome who has successfully completed a tertiary qualification.

As Sheri addressed the audience, many a tear was shed. "When I was born some people told my mother 'don't worry, they don't live long', but my mother said that she wants to look after me until we die together one day. This means that she would be 90 years old, as people today with Down syndrome can live to the age of 70. I wonder who will look after who at that stage!"

Sheri said her motto is that all people have the ability to choose to make the best of their circumstances. "Currently I am an assistant teacher at a pre-primary school and travel the world as a motivational speaker.

"I was born with intellectual and certain physical challenges, but my parents never focused on that. They really tried to give relevant insight into the things that I could do. While attending a regular school, some of the boys started picking on me. I asked them if they would like the extra chromosome which causes Down syndrome. They said no and stopped harassing me."

A video of the Up with Downs students expressing their dreams was met with a few hearty laughs as well as a tear or two. Seegmuller said everybody should have a dream. "It is up to us at Up with Downs to strive to make those dreams a reality. Thanks to our 190 guests and donors for making the evening the success it was."

Read the initial article here: Auction raises R258 000 for Up with Downs

Don Bailey paid R20 000 for this Durbanville Hills 5 litre with a 'NixPix label' - a Downs fundraising effort in which Jan Seegmuller's daughter is involved.