FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)- To celebrate World Down Syndrome Day, a very kind and generous Bishop Dwenger student designed a t-shirt to spread awareness and acceptance for down syndrome. Elliana Martin is a sophomore at Bishop Dwenger, and her smile can brighten up anyone’s day.

Elliana is part of the Mother Teresa program that helps students with disabilities grow their learning and life skills. The program is in its third year and the only program of its kind in the Fort Wayne and South Bend Dioceses.

The handwriting on the back of the t-shirts is Elliana’s hand writing.

Courtesy of Whitney Tippmann: Elliana Martin seeing the t-shirt she created for World Down Syndrome Day for the first time.

“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest to you.”

Mother Teresa

One of Elliana’s teacher aids is beyond thrilled at how far she has come in a short amount of time. “We chose to do one of our students’ handwriting because Elliana has worked so incredibly hard on her fine motor skills her whole life and this past, I would say year, two years we have really seen her excel,” said Whitney Tippmann. “For her to write clearly is just a really big step and she was very proud of it and we really just wanted to make her feel proud and seen,” Tippmann explained.

The motto for the program and classroom is “You have a friend in me” meaning you are not only a student at Bishop Dwenger, but you are welcomed, you are loved and you are my friend.

They sold around 300 t-shirts with the proceeds going towards the Bishop Dwenger Moderate Needs program.