Ben Yorgey was born Jan. 15, 1985 to Kent and Ardy Yorgey in Allentown, and he lived his life nearby in Macungie.

Everything with Ben was absolutely normal until he was eight months old. At that time, he started having seizures which significantly delayed his normal development.

Ben's speech began when he was around six years old, but his language skills never reached more than a six-year-old level.

His school years were spent in the East Penn School District in an Intermediate Unit Life Skills class where he was instructed using a functional curriculum.

Ben thrived in the Life Skills classes and graduated at the age of 21 from Emmaus High School.

On May 7, 2009, Ben died from anoxic brain injury caused by a seizure which he suffered May 5, 2009.

Ben's abilities went far beyond merely describing his cognitive disabilities. Ben was driven by an ultimate purpose to share his gift of love.

This was evident by the variety and amount of people (around 1,200) who came to pay their respects at his funeral.

Ben's wish would be for each of us to live every moment of every day with the same joy and enthusiasm that he did. Never meet a stranger. There is no such thing. Love everyone.

The Ben Event is a family event held this year July 17 and 18 at Macungie Memorial Park. The purpose of the Ben Event is to generate funds for the Ben Yorgey Foundation. Since the first Ben Event held in July 2010, the foundation has given 79 awards to graduating high school students with intellectual disabilities totaling over $65,000.

This year's events included a half mile kids run, Bear Swamp derby, Ben's block party, Ben's super raffle, breakfast in the park, Friday night fun walk, Hey I know you! 5K, Kids fun dash, Special Olympics swim meet and a wheels of time cruise night.

Ben's block party included pony rides, a petting zoo, DaVinci Science Center's Science On the Move learning station, a moon bounce, activities for children, demonstration of emergency equipment and more, all at no charge. Emergency vehicles and members of the Macungie Ambulance Corps and the Lower Macungie Fire Department were on hand to answer questions.