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"Angel" star to kick off 5K "Walk in the Park"

BY RHODA AMON | rhoda.amon@newsday.com

April 27, 2008

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You may know him as Corky Thatcher in the ABC-TV series "Life Goes On," or more recently, as the angel Taylor in the CBS-TV series "Touched By An Angel."

The actor is Chris Burke of Point Lookout and Manhattan. In 1965, when he was born with Down syndrome, doctors advised his parents to place him in an institution. Instead, Frank and Marian Burke treated Chris the same as their other children. Chris has gone on to make four CDs with his own Chris Burke Band and his friends, musician twins Joe and John DeMasi. Their albums are largely inspirational, focusing on abilities rather than disabilities and celebrating the many kinds of people who make up our world.

Burke will kick off the annual 5K Walk in the Park, for the benefit of the Developmental Disabilities Institute, today in Holtsville Ecology Park. He'll give an inspirational talk at the start of the walk. After the return, Burke will entertain with songs and band music in what is billed as a family fun day until 4:30 p.m.

Burke has served as a spokesman for the McDonald's McJobs program and is a goodwill ambassador for the National Down Syndrome Society in New York City.

Developmental Disabilities Institute, a Smithtown-based nonprofit agency with 30 locations on Long Island, provides educational, vocational and residential programs for 1,500 people with autism or other developmental disabilities.

Registration will start at 9 a.m. and the walk will set off at 10:30. Lunch will be provided by the Outback Steakhouse of Holbrook. The park is at 249 Buckley Rd. in Holtsville.

More information is available at ddiinfo.org.

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