DSRF Honours Longtime Board Member George Klukas

The Down Syndrome Resource Foundation was founded in 1995 – the same year that Jodi Klukas was born. You might say that DSRF and Jodi grew up together. As both of us prepare to celebrate our 30th birthday, we have the privilege of honouring someone who has played a very important role in both our lives: Jodi’s father, George Klukas.

At 22 years and counting, George is DSRF’s longest serving Board member. His first major contribution to DSRF came when he led the building project that gave us our beautiful centre in Burnaby in 2022. Today, as we prepare to redo the HVAC system and renovate to meet our current and future needs, George is again leading the charge.

George has been one of DSRF’s most faithful financial supporters through the years. He is a fixture at all our annual fundraising events, including our Up the Down Market dinners in both Vancouver and Calgary, and the Magical Morning breakfast. He gives generously and encourages many others to do the same.

George’s proudest accomplishment involves Run Up for Down Syndrome. Over the past 27 years, the Run has grown from a few dozen people who raised a few thousand dollars to an event that regularly attracts over 1,000 people and raises a quarter million dollars a year. No one played a bigger part in this success than George. He recruited his friend Bill Longman, founder of Euro-Rite Cabinets, to be the longtime lead sponsor of the event. Together, they have raised more than $500,000 through the years.

In 2022, George and Bill personally donated $100,000 to establish DSRF’s Employment Support Program. Since then, over two dozen young adults with Down syndrome have been supported in their employment journeys and found rewarding jobs.

For the past 20 years, George has presented the George Klukas Achievement Award annually to a young adult or older teen with Down syndrome in recognition of their improvement and accomplishments.

As we enter our 30th year, it is the perfect time to honour George Klukas for his past, present, and future contributions to the Down Syndrome Resource Foundation. We are proud to announce the renaming of our adult classroom as the George Klukas Classroom. The new name will be displayed on signs at both entrances to the room.

We invited a number of people whose lives have been impacted by George to share some words of appreciation: