March 25 is the federally recognized Cerebral Palsy (CP) Awareness Day in the United States and when we announce the winners for our third annual CP Awareness Month photo contest. In February, we began accepting submissions in three categories that we thought were important to represent our community: around town, diversity and celebrations & holidays. Each of the following submissions were selected by being the top three photos in these categories in votes out of 14,236 counted:
First Prize Winners ($100 each)
| Around Town | Diversity | Celebrations & Holidays |
|---|---|---|
 Levi taking big boys steps in his gait trainer — featuring little brother holding up his ventilator circuit |  We are thankful for therapists! They give everything we need!! This is to help assist with standing! |  Beckham loves his elf on the shelf, Charlie, who has a G-tube just like him! |
Second Prize Winners ($75 each)
| Around Town | Diversity | Celebrations & Holidays |
|---|---|---|
 Identical twins –Everleigh running her sister Emerson over road kill — CP wont stop either of them |  Cerebral Palsy may bring challenges, but I always find ways to overcome them! (Avalanche Special Olympics Clinic) |  Kia celebrating her favorite holiday Fourth of July with her cousin |
Third Prize Winners ($50 each)
| Around Town | Diversity | Celebrations & Holidays |
|---|---|---|
 When it is nice out Anya loves to go cruising around on her bike. She is learning to keep her feet on the peddles and to use both hands to steer. |  Grayson in his stander. |  Garrett’s Famous Lemonade: Every year he has a Lemonade Stand to raise money for different charities and an accessible van for us. Last year was for Curing Kids Cancer |
Congratulations to each of these photographers and subjects for their selection and their prizes of $100 for 1st place, $75 for 2nd place and $50 for 3rd place.
Best Photo Overall
In addition to these winners, the staff and volunteers of the CP Research Network voted for best overall photograph in terms of what represented the CP Research Network’s values. The decision was SO hard as there were so many great photos. The winner is:
JOY-riding: 7 year old boy named, Ford. He is the brightest human being with white hair, and ocean blue eyes. He is riding his adaptive bike from Freedom Concepts around town.
Congratulations to Effie Parks for the photo of Ford “JOY Riding” for the $500 prize!
Honorable Mentions
The photos were so great this year that we decided to quadruple our funds for honorable mentions. Voting strongly favored young children in seven of the nine winners. The staff recommended a number of honorable mentions. Thanks to you all for these great photos.
Thank you to EVERYONE that participated – submissions, shares and votes. We hope the sharing of pictures and our awareness banners helped you all create awareness for CP and celebrate our vibrant community! Wear your green proudly today! We will be in touch about your prizes over the next week!
Check out all our entries — they are amazing!
