Car Wash Success!

It has been a wonderful day! We had our 2nd official fundraising event for the service dog today. The folks at Learning Services at Jacksonville State University sponsored this event for us. Here is a link to their website: http://www.jsu.edu/learningservices/. This also served as a service project for the students enrolled in their program. We met and worked with some really awesome kids today. They were so kind to Atticus and really worked hard washing cars. Some of them even gave their own money to the fundraiser. We were very impressed with the students and the staff that works with them. It is truly a great program at the university. We would like to send a HUGE thank you to the Director of Learning Services - Ms. Courtney Peppers-Owen, M.S., BCBA and her staff for organizing the event.

We would also like to thank the National Guard for their help at the event and for lending us their tents! And a huge thanks to Mr. Corey McDaniel for coming up with the idea for the event and for recruiting your friends at the National Guard to help out.

Soooooo... I know you're dying to know how we did today! The kids raised $263.09 at the car wash! And... there were several amazing friends that saw the car wash pictures on facebook and wanted to help out but live out of state. And those amazing friends donated a total of $550!!!!! So today's fundraising efforts came to a grand total of $813.09!!!!!

This brings our current total to --- $3,367.67!!!!! WOW!!!! This means we only need $2,132.33 to reach our first deadline on December 1, 2013. For those of you that haven't had a chance to read our past blog posts, we have $5,500 due on or before December 1, 2013 and $5,500 due on or before April 1, 2014. (The total cost is $12,000 and we paid the initial $1,000 with our contract). So.... We are over halfway there to our initial goal and almost 1/3 of the way to our final goal!!!

Friends - we are truly blessed. God is so very good. We were so nervous starting this journey -$12,000 is a lot of money. But, we felt in our hearts that a service dog would be a tremendous help to Atticus and our family. What we didn't realize though is just how much of a blessing the fundraising would be. We have been so moved and touched by the outpouring of support from friends, family members, high school friends, college friends, current and previous co-workers, and even perfect strangers.

I know I'm an old sap - Justin says I cry at the kleenex and cotton commercials (maybe just a little)... And even as I type this, I am tearing up... It just gets me though... most parents love their kids to the moon and back. And they would do anything in the world to help them. This is how we feel about Atticus. He is an amazing child. Our life is so much better because he is a part of it. And even though times are sometimes challenging - we will never give up on him and will strive to do whatever we can to help him. What gets the tears flowing, is the response from so many others who feel that way too and want to do whatever they can to help our little man.

Thank you all and God bless each and every one of you.

Wow.

Wow.

Just wow.

Wow.

We were able to get the facebook page launched yesterday and the response has been nothing short of amazing! We are nearing 200 likes and so many wonderful friends and family have shared the information on their page as well.

The most remarkable and mind blowing thing? In less than 24 hours, we have received $525.00 in donations. This has been such a humbling experience already for our whole family. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and love.That brings our total now to: $2,393.21. If you're keeping track - we need to turn in $5,500 by December 1 and another $5,500 by April 1, 2014. The total cost is $12,000 and we've already turned in $1,000 so the current total will apply to the $5,500 we need to turn in by December. We're almost halfway to the December goal and 1/4 way to the final goal -- HOORAY!

As you can see from the photo – Atticus is hard at work on thank you letters/notes. He doesn’t quite understand how the fundraising works but he knows a lot of nice people are helping him get his service dog.

Thank you again!

Much love, 

Justin, RaDonna and Atticus  

Donations in the Mail

We just got back into town today from a visit with grandparents in Tennessee. When we returned I found 2 checks in the mailbox – one from a precious lady at our church for $50 and one for $50 from someone I have never met in North Carolina. She wrote a very sweet note about hearing how Atticus needed a service dog. They have a therapy dog that they take to hospice and to rest homes and have seen firsthand how much a service animal can improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. I literally shed tears that a complete stranger sent $50 of her money to help my child. And I am tearing up writing this. We have also been blessed with other donations and friends and family from out of state reaching out to help as well. There are still some amazing people in this world. We feel so very blessed.

This brings our savings account total to: $1,868.21! We are making a dent! Woo hoo!

Car Wash in Jacksonville to Raise Money

I am still in awe at the amount we raised with our very first fundraising event – wow! God is so great! We are continuing to plan fund raising events for the fall and early spring. Right now we are kicking around the ideas of a chili supper with silent auction (probably in November), a fall rummage sale (probably early October), and a Mighty Dog 5K run in late winter, early spring. If you would like to help with any of these events please contact us by email at servicedogforatticus@yahoo.com.

Our next planned event is Saturday, July 27^th from 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. There will be a car wash at Advance Auto Parts in Jacksonville, AL. So if you are in the area – please stop by and a wonderful group of kids will wash your car! We would like to send a huge thank you to one of Atticus’ therapists - Mr. Corey McDaniel for organizing this event. And thank you to Learning Services of Jacksonville State University for sponsoring the event.  

Yard Sale Success

The yard sale was a tremendous success!! Thank you so much to everyone that helped us get it organized and also to those who helped spread the word! The weather was perfect and felt more like April than July. We had a good crowd and we also received several donations for our cause. The grand total for our very first fundraising effort (sales and donations) was $1,402!!!!!!!!! We feel so very blessed!

So to recap our progress so far… We had to turn in $1,000 with our contract. That leaves us with $11,000 to raise in 9 months. We have to turn in half of that ($5,500) on December 1. Then, the other half ($5,500) is due on April 1, 2014. So for the $5,500 that is due on December 1 – we have $3,858 to go (we had $240 before the sale). 

I must admit it took us several weeks to sign the contract and turn in $1,000. We knew in our hearts that this would be the best things for Atticus and for our family. In addition, we had already made it through the application process but $11,000 felt so unattainable. We prayed about it and prayed for God to make it very clear if this were not the intended path. However – doors kept opening and people kept offering to help … so we took the leap and we are amazed daily at the overwhelming response of love and generosity from friends, family and even perfect strangers.

Thank you again for the tremendous support and love for our little man. 

Our Journey Begins

As many of you know, our son Atticus has autism. He is an intelligent and very sweet young man with limited expressive language and no fears. He also has severe food allergies. We have been praying for the last 5 years about the possibility of a service a dog for Atticus. Earlier this year we felt God placing it on our hearts that now may be the right time. After making it through two grueling application rounds, our family was approved for a service dog through Wilderwood Service Dogs (a non-profit organization in Maryville, TN). The actual cost of a service dog is around $25,000 per dog. However the non-profit covers a little more than half of that with their volunteer efforts and the family is expected to raise $12,000 toward the cost of the dog. The dogs are raised from birth and go through 2 years of intense training before being paired with a child. They are trained specifically for that child’s needs and like all service dogs will be able to accompany the child wherever they go.

There is a lot of research showing the benefits of a service dog for a child with autism. In the end we feel that the benefits for Atticus and for our family will be priceless. Besides the companionship and social benefits – the dog would be able to track Atticus and find him if we were to ever get separated. This is a tremendous fear for us as he could go into anaphylactic shock if he eats eggs and/or dairy. On June 1 of this year, the ingestion of 4 cheese curls sent us to the Emergency Room with an anaphylactic reaction (his throat closed up and his eyes were swollen almost shut). He does not understand the severity of his food allergies. So if he were to get lost it could be fatal if he ate something with egg and/or dairy. The only form of ID we are able to keep on him consistently is a road id that attaches to his shoe. It lists our information and his information including his food allergies. However – there are SO many foods that contain egg and dairy and the possibility of him finding something or even being given a snack by a well-meaning adult are very high. The service dogs are highly trained in tracking abilities and one would be able to locate Atticus within minutes or seconds after we give the command. We know other families in somewhat similar situations and their children’s lives have been saved numerous times by the assistance of a service dog.

We are just beginning our fundraising efforts and have a few events planned so far (we have 9 months to raise $12,000). I will post updates on these events as they develop and our progress with the fund raising efforts.

Please keep us in your prayers as we begin this journey.