‘Christmas This Year’ features kids with Down syndrome, benefitting Down syndrome organization
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - For Jared and Megan Andersen, the holiday season for the past nine years have been filled to the brim. The couple, the creators of "Christmas This Year," have spent the last few months rehearsing and organizing the four-show production.
The reason they do it? To raise awareness and money for kids with Down syndrome.
"It's like a disruption in the way people think and see, seeing people who are on the margins and people who are often overlooked," Megan Andersen said.
The cast is made up almost entirely of kids who have Down syndrome, highlighting them and their families in a heartwarming show. Andersen explained that when kids start performing in the show one year, they rarely stop, which is why they have a cast of nearly fifty kids after nine years of putting it on.
The production crew includs hundreds of people backing them up, making props, producing the show and choreographing it all.
Jared Andersen began this production because of a trip he made to Club 21, an organization and school for kids with Down syndrome in South Africa. He says while he was there, he taught the kids to dance.
When he noticed how much they loved it, he got the idea of putting on an entire show here in Colorado Springs.
"When you get to know them and you meet their family and their siblings and you hear their stories and what they've endured and what they have been through, you're just like, how can we not give them a breath of fresh air, just welcoming them in," Jared Andersen said.
Twenty-year-old Sarah Wrubel co-hosted tonight's show.
"It makes me feel proud. So that everyone can see what a special person I am," Wrubel said.
But the show doesn't just focus on kids with Down syndrome. Many of the dance numbers and songs also featured parents and siblings. This was a way of getting the whole family together for a bonding experience.
Saturday night's show isn't all. There are still tickets available for tomorrow's shows as well. There is also a livestream option and ways to donate.
