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Walk and Roll promotes awareness, understanding for people with disabilities

Herald-Journal - 10/4/2018

Oct. 05--A procession of students walked and rolled through downtown Spartanburg Thursday morning, smiling and clad in white and blue T-shirts as the Dorman High School drum line played.

More than 600 people participated in the 12th annual Walk and Roll for People with Disabilities, a march aimed at promoting awareness and understanding for people with disabilities.

Donald Davis, the co-chairman of the Mayors Committee for People with Disabilities, which hosts the walk, said it's a great way to advocate for people who are disabled.

"We do it to get the awareness out that people with disabilities are just as capable as an able-bodied person," he said. "They deserve job opportunities just like everybody else."

The march started at the clock tower in downtown Spartanburg at 9:30 a.m. and ended about a mile away at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium.

At the auditorium, the celebration ended with a dance where students from the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind sang and signed, and students enjoyed seeing some of their favorite teachers and staff dressed as superheroes.

Davis said the children who participate enjoy the event every year, and that it's gratifying to see them have fun.

"They love it," he said. "They do the walk, they get something to eat, then they get to dance. And they love to dance."

When Davis started as co-chair of the organization in 2012, he said about 200 students participated. Seeing the event grow year after year has been an encouraging experience, he said.

"I never fathomed we'd grow as fast as we have," he said.

The march this year was a success, Davis said, and he's looking forward to seeing it grow in the future.

"We're just having a good time," Davis said. "It's a good reward for the kids."

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(c)2018 the Spartanburg Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, S.C.)

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