Jonathan is an 11-year-old boy from Coquitlam who was born with both Down Syndrome and a congenital heart defect. He has also been diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay along with speech, vision and motor issues. Jonathan’s parents want to ensure that their son has every support system in place so that he can keep up with his peers and grow up to be an independent young man. To assist with Jonathan’s learning challenges, Variety has stepped in and provides Jonathan with tutoring sessions at the Down Syndrome Research Foundation where he receives one-on-one help with math, reading and writing … essentials so that he will be able to thrive both in school and in society.

“Variety has played an important role in Jonathan’s life providing much-needed assistance along the way,” said his mother, Darlene Haddad. “When Jonathan was a baby, he needed a very expensive baby formula for a month after one of his surgeries which Variety provided to help us through an extremely difficult time.”

“The support of Variety has made such a tremendous difference in Jonathan’s life and helps so many other families like ours across the province,” added Darlene. “Words cannot express how grateful we are to Variety and their generous donors. It takes a village to raise a child and working together, we can all make a huge difference in the lives of BC’s children with special needs just like Jonathan.”