This Down Syndrome Baby Just Became the Iconic "Gerber Baby"

Will Maule : Feb 9, 2018
Faithwire.com

"We're hoping this will impact everyone—that it will shed a little bit of light on the special needs community and help more individuals with special needs be accepted and not limited. They have the potential to change the world, just like everybody else." -Jason Warren

(Dalton, GA)—[Faithwire.com] The 2018 Gerber baby has been announced. His name is Lucas Warren, a 1-year-old from Dalton, Georgia who is the first child with Down syndrome ever to be named a Gerber baby since the contest began back in 2010. (Photo: Gerber baby Lucas Warren/Credit: Gerber/via Faithwire.com)

"He's very outgoing and never meets a stranger," Lucas's mom, Cortney, told TODAY Parents. "He loves to play, loves to laugh and loves to make other people laugh. Cortney Warren explained how she entered the Gerber competition very much on a whim after a friend pointed out the ad for submissions.

Courtney posted a photo of Lucas on Instagram using the contest's hashtag. Her and husband Jason were staggered to find out that their son had been picked out from over 140,000 entries to be the 2018 Gerber Spokesbaby.

"Every year, we choose the baby who best exemplifies Gerber's longstanding heritage of recognizing that every baby is a Gerber baby," said Bill Partyka, CEO and president of Gerber Partyka. "This year, Lucas is the perfect fit."

"We're hoping this will impact everyone—that it will shed a little bit of light on the special needs community and help more individuals with special needs be accepted and not limited," dad Jason Warren added. "They have the potential to change the world, just like everybody else."

"We believe if brands represent children with a disability, they are communicating their value to our society," said Katie Driscoll, the founder and president of Changing the Face of Beauty, a non-profit organization that advocates for fair and equal representation of people with disabilities in adverting and media...

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