Blog for a Cause!

Todd and I just got back from a two day getaway to Huntington Beach. It was nice to just get away for a couple of days from our normal routines, and enjoy each other's company. Plus we had never been to Huntington Beach before. We had a great time there! :) For those of you close to me, you may know that autism is something that is very close to my heart. My nephew Xander is autistic. He's almost six years old and is almost non-verbal. My sister spends a lot of time trying to improve his speech and other abilities. She has him in special classes at school, ABA therapy everyday for two hours, biomedical treatments, and he also takes supplements. This is all in the hopes of making him better so that he can live a more normal life. I pray for him a lot and hope that his autism will improve. Did you know that most therapy and all biomedical treatments are not covered by insurance? Yes, it's true. Autism can take a huge financial toll on families. Coincidentally, I am on the Sherrie Piegdon's (Pixel Gypsy Designs) creative team for digital scrapbooking. Her son has very similar autism symptoms as Xander. He's also six years old and virtually non-verbal. The reason I'm bringing this up is because April is Autism Awareness Month. The team at Pixel Gypsy Designs is trying to raise $1500 for the Helping Hand program through the National Autism Association. Helping Hand provides grants to needy families who have autistic children so that they can get the therapy and biomedical treatments that they desperately need. Sherrie Piegdon has created the amazing Everyday Joy Collection as a gift to anyone who donates to the Helping Hand program through Pixel Gypsy Designs.

Help us spread the word about the Everyday Joy collection and Pixel Gypsy Designs' donation drive for the Helping Hand program! Getting the word out equals more donations for this awesome grant assistance program for autism families, and we need your help!

Anyone who blogs about Everday Joy and our fundraising drive between now and April 11th, providing the Everday Joy details and a link to THIS page and leaving us a link to your post in the comments at the PGD blog, will be entered in a drawing for a $25 Pixel Gypsy Designs gift certificate!

If you wish to donate yourself, please go to this page and check out the details on how you can help out, while at the same time get free Everyday Joy goodies from Pixel Gypsy Designs! Oh, and please be assured that you will be donating directly at the NAA website and every penny will go to the Helping Hand program.