For Oklahoma Christian University professor of psychology and family studies Bobby Kern, the month of September has always held a special place in his heart.
Since 2013, when his son Josiah was born with Down Syndrome, Kern has used the month to spread awareness of the developmental disability to those on the Oklahoma Christian Campus, as well as promote the annual fundraiser and 5k hosted by The Down Syndrome Association of Central Oklahoma (DSACO). Kern has been involved with DSACO since Josiah’s birth and now serves as the president of the board of directors for the association.
His family’s team, Team Buggy Jo, has represented the DSACO fundraiser on campus for the past six years, with the communities of Edmond and Oklahoma Christian continuing to support them. The different families associated with DSACO collect donations in the team’s name and give proceeds to the association.
According to Kern, Team Buggy Jo is not only the family team name but is also Josiah’s nickname, and it has been around even longer than he has.
“When we were pregnant with him, we didn’t know what we were going to name him,” Kern said. “We asked Lydia, our daughter who was three at the time, ‘What do you want to name your little brother?’ She said, ‘Buggy.’ We laughed, but we started calling him Buggy until we picked out a name.”
“Later on, we picked out Josiah, and then we started calling him Buggy Jo,” Kern said. “Most of the time we call him Jo Bug now, but Buggy Jo had stuck with the team name.”
In the six years since Team Buggy Jo started, community involvement for the Kern family and DSACO has grown. Alfredo’s in Edmond hosts a support day for Team Buggy Jo and donates part of their profits to the team. Other restaurants in Edmond put on similar events as well.
Andrea Wood, an Edmond resident, said she takes pride in the support given to Team Buggy Jo.
“It’s heartwarming to see a community come together and participate in festivities for a good cause, whatever stage of life you’re in,” Wood said.
Over the years, however, Kent said Oklahoma Christian remains Team Buggy Jo’s biggest supporter. The school designs team shirts every year and sells them on campus, donating the profits in Josiah’s name. When Oklahoma Christian chose DSACO as the philanthropy recipient for Spring Sing last year, Kern said he was surprised by the generosity.
“We didn’t even know that Spring Sing had a philanthropy recipient, so that was really cool for us,” Kern said.
Other institutions on campus help Team Buggy Jo as well. Junior Sarah Alley, a student of Kern’s, watches the students on campus get actively involved in helping the team every year. As Kern works to make his classes enjoyable for his students, those students work to help Team Buggy Jo, like the Alpha Gamma Omega social club alumni, who give some of their money to the event.
The final part of the DSACO annual fundraiser is a 5K, awareness walk and festival held at the Bricktown Ballpark Sept. 29. Registration is required for the 5K, but the awareness walk and festival are both free. The 5K starts at 8 a.m. and the awareness walk will start shortly after 9 a.m.
The last event of the day is the festival, which is held inside the ballpark and includes face painting, games, a petting zoo and other activities. Kern said this fundraiser is important not just to his family, but the entire Down Syndrome Association as well.
“We serve about 700 families in the OKC area,” Kern said. “It’s a pretty big deal for us.”
More information on the 5K, awareness walk and festival, can be found on the event’s website.
This article was changed after publication.
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