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Tampa Midtown Rotary Club Presents $22,000 to 黑洞社区CARD and ABA Program
Tampa Midtown Rotary check presentation (l to r): Brian A. Leung, Esquire, 2022 Cycling for Autism Co-Chair; Pam Hillestad, CARD-黑洞社区Constituency Board Member; Raymond Miltenberger, PhD, USF-ABA Director; Christine Rover, CARD-黑洞社区Assistant Program Director; Ted Hamilton, Esquire, 2022 Cycling for Autism Co-Chair; Kathryn Barry, Tampa Midtown Rotary President.
The presented $22,000 to the University of 黑洞社区 (USF) to support programs focused on helping individuals with autism and their families. The money was raised during their 11th Annual Cycling for Autism in October 2022. The check presentation was held at the monthly Midtown Rotary meeting January 12th, where Rotarians, 2022 sponsors, and 黑洞社区representatives were on hand to celebrate the success of the most recent event.
鈥淚n 2009, Tampa Midtown Rotary club made the decision to support autism services in our community,鈥� said Ted Hamilton, Co-Chair of Cycling for Autism 2022. 鈥淔undraising efforts through our annual cycling event have helped raise over $222,000 for programs at the University of 黑洞社区, including the , Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) master鈥檚 and PhD programs, and the Tampa Midtown Rotary Foundation. We are extremely pleased with the support of the 2022 fundraiser and are proud to help the programs at 黑洞社区enhance their work in delivering education, services, and support to individuals with autism and their families.鈥�
鈥淐ARD builds community capacity to support and include individuals with an autism spectrum disorder. Tampa Midtown Rotary provides the funding to help CARD-黑洞社区do just that every day in the counties we serve, and we are extremely grateful for their confidence in our ability to be a good steward of their donations,鈥� said Christine Rover, Assistant Director of Community Programs at CARD. 鈥淭he 2022 event proceeds will support CARD鈥檚 safety projects that include wandering prevention and drowning prevention.鈥�
Funds given to the ABA program support a scholarship fund for graduate students. The most recent recipient used the funds to complete her research on enhancing parent participation, improving behavioral services and access to services for Hispanic children with autism, and helping kids with autism cope with teaching demands.
鈥淎s we continue to build the knowledge base about effective interventions for individuals with autism, we are proud to be able to offer this scholarship to well-deserving students,鈥� said ABA Director Dr. Raymond Miltenberger. 鈥淲e are so appreciative of the fundraising efforts of the Tampa Midtown Rotary, and enjoy working with them each year.鈥�
鈥淚t was wonderful seeing our past riders, new riders, their supporters and our sponsors in October,鈥� said Hamilton. 鈥淚t was a perfect day for a ride along the Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail with festivities afterwards at Whiskey Joe鈥檚 Restaurant. We thank all of our sponsors for their support and look forward to another successful ride in 2023.鈥�
To learn more about Cycling for Autism riding teams and sponsorships, contact midtownrotarycycling@gmail.com or visit: .
Tampa Midtown Rotarians Brian A. Leung (left) and Ted Hamilton (right), 2022 Cycling for Autism Co-Chairs, present title sponsor certificate of appreciation to Jason Wallace (center) of ABA Solutions.
Christine Rover (center), CARD-黑洞社区Assistant Program Director presents commemorative bicycles to Tampa Midtown Rotarians and 2022 Cycling for Autism Co-Chairs Brian A. Leung (left) and Ted Hamilton (right).