Lowcountry Down Syndrome Society is asking residents of the Coastal Empire to wear two different socks on World Down Syndrome Day to raise awareness of people with different abilities.

World Down Syndrome Day will be observed Tuesday, March 21, 2023. When it was recognized by the United Nations in 2012, the 21st day of the third month of the year was chosen to reflect the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome, which causes Down syndrome.

“You can’t love what you don’t know, " said the Lowcountry Down Syndrome Society president, Joe Marchese. Once you get to know someone with Down syndrome, you realize we’re more alike than different. And it’s the differences that make us all the same. So wearing the two different socks reminds me to pray for the people that I love with Down syndrome and to celebrate those differences every day."

This year’s theme is “With Us Not For Us.” The goal, according to the World Down Syndrome Day website at https://www.worlddownsyndromeday.org/ is to encourage allies of the differently abled community to support agencies for people they employ, to work with them, and not just for them.