Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day Celebration at IHN

The month of March celebrates cerebral palsy and seeks to bring awareness to a complex neuromuscular condition that affects over 18 million people worldwide. On March 26th, the Institute for Human Neuroscience at Boys Town National Research Hospital partnered with the Center for Human Performance Optimization at Boys Town, United Cerebral Palsy of Nebraska, and Special Olympics of Nebraska, to host the second annual Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day celebration at Boys Town. The family-friendly carnival-themed celebration included a variety of games and activities such as a wheelchair obstacle course, therapy dogs, bounce houses, a photo booth, carnival treats, and face painting at the Skip Palrang Memorial Fieldhouse on Boys Town’s main campus. Additionally, organizations and support services from the Omaha community hosted booths to provide resources, services, and information for individuals with cerebral palsy and their families. This year over 265 friends from the community joined in for this four-hour event, alongside 60+ volunteers from Boys Town and other organizations. We even had a special guest, Miss Nebraska, there to show her support as she took photographs, played games at the booths with the families and enjoyed a slushie. Local news stations KMTV3 and KETV7 covered the event, helping to fulfill the mission of spreading awareness about cerebral palsy, connecting families, and most importantly, celebrate these individuals. Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month was started in 2006 by a parental advocacy group called Reaching for the Stars. Approximately 1 in 345 children in United States are identified with cerebral palsy every year.

Thank you to everyone who supported Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day 2023. We consider ourselves privileged to host this event and are already looking forward to next year!