H.E.A.R.T.S. Connection will be hosting a new Down Syndrome Parent Meeting beginning Thursday, October 19, 2006 6:30 p.m. The meeting will consist of a panel of parents with children of different ages who will share their experiences of raising a child with Down Syndrome.

The Down Syndrome Parent Meeting will be held at Kern Regional Center's new conference room located at 3121 Sillect Avenue (same side of the street as H.E.A.R.T.S. Connection). For more information, please contact Susan Graham 328.9055 at x304 or Elva Darrett at x259.

Bakersfield Brigade TOPSoccer (The Outreach Program for Soccer) is a community based training and team placement program for young athletes with disabilities, organized by youth soccer association volunteers. Now available in Kern County, this program is designed to bring the opportunity of learning and playing soccer to any boy or girl, ages 4 and older, who has a mental or physical disability. One of the most widely praised youth sports programs in America, the program's goal is to enable the thousands of young athletes with disabilities the opportunity to become valued and successful members of the US YOUTH SOCCER family.

Emphasis of this program is development, training and providing meaningful participation rather than competition. TOPSoccer program offers the following:

• Placement of players by ability not age.
• Highlights players’ ability rather than their disability.
• Allows for players to have meaningful experience, not just a token.
• Allows players to achieve desired goals without assistance.
• FUN!

Please contact Joe Montoya, Technical Director at 661.204.7711 for more information!

Jasmine Slater used to have the longest hair in her class, her blonde hair half way down her back which people used to compliment her on. That all changed on December 20, 2005.

Jasmine donated 10 inches of her hair to be used as a wig for children afflicted with hair loss. “I’m glad I cut my hair," said Jasmine, "It will help children with medical conditions. It will make them and I feel a lot better than we did.”

Jasmine has always said she would like to get her hair cut so she could donate it to a child that didn’t have any hair because of treatments and medical conditions that they had. Jasmine is a very compassionate person having learned it from having a brother with a chronic medical condition and her mother being a 5 year survivor of cancer.

Jasmine had her hair cut at Great Clips located at 6077 Coffee Road where owner Phil Burks stated that “in 2004 they donated over 179 yards of hair and in 2005 over 200 yards of hair, which equals to over 100 pounds of hair donated by children and adults just like Jasmine."

Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children 18 years and younger in the United States and Canada suffering from any type of medical hair loss. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia. The prostheses we provide help to restore self-esteem and confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.