Palin's 1-year-old son, Trig, was born with Down syndrome. Palin declared herself an advocate for developmentally disabled children during her September speech to the Republican National Convention.
"We wanted to honor her as a mother who has a special-needs child, to try and bring as much exposure as we could for families who do have these special-needs children," said Frank Lombardi of the IGHL Foundation.
Palin will appear at another event Saturday in upstate Auburn, N.Y., to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood. Alaska and Auburn are linked through William Seward, who lived in Auburn and who, as secretary of state, negotiated the deal to buy Alaska from Russia in 1867.
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