Summer Water Sports Program Registration Form Now Available

The Flutie Foundation is proud to once again partner with AccesSportAmerica to provide a summer water sports program for individuals with autism. The sessions will take place at Reservoir Lake at Mass Hospital School in Canton, MA and are available in 2-hour sessions Monday - Thursday and on Saturdays from June through the beginning of August.

For more information about the program, or to download a copy of the registration form, please visit our website.

Chris Chirco
Director of Programming
The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism, Inc.

Great website for information regarding each state's stand regarding autism insurance

This link was sent to me by last year's winner of our Doug Flutie, Jr. Award - Heidi Bowden. If you were wondering where your state stands in regard to insurance coverage for autism, check it out.

If you live in Massachusetts and would like to get involved in the effort to get insurance coverage for autism locally, check out AFAM's site and join them in the fight!

Thank you to our Full Court Charity Challenge Participants!

What a great time this past Saturday! We hosted our 10th Annual Full Court Charity Challenge at Basketball City in Boston. 10 years already!??! This annual event benefits both our Foundation and the LADDERS clinic in Lexington, MA. Even in these trying economic times, our supporters came out in full force and helped us to raise well over $130,000! Since the inception of this incredible event, we have raised over $1.5 million dollars through corporate sponsorships, an amazing raffle, a silent auction and general donations given by some very generous individuals.

Congratulations to our two champions - BT&E (Corporate Division) and Donohue's Bar & Grill (Open Division). Drew Gellert (Corporate) & Chris Nowinski (Open) were our MVP's.

Thank you to all of our tremendous volunteers, many of whom came to us from The Junior League of Boston. Also, a BIG "thank you" to Bob Forlenza who created this event 10 years ago and does most of the planning for this great day. Basketball City once again did a great job pulling everything together and running a fantastic tournament. Oh, and we can't forget the food. Lunch and dinner were once again provided by Carmine's Catering out of Medfield, MA. If you need something catered and you want some incredible food, give Carmine a call and you won't be disappointed. Their number is 508-277-6428.

Photos from this event will be posted shortly, so check out website for updates.

Arc of East Middlesex "Journey to Independence" Program Offering Scholarships

The Arc of East Middlesex received a $18,562.00 grant from the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism during our 2008 grant cycle. The majority of the funds will be used to provide scholarships (approximately 45 slots) to families of teens and young adults with autism to attend their Journey to Independence Program.

They are also now offering "Buy one weekend get one weekend free scholarships" while funds are available. Using a Real World House in Andover, the program offers instruction in practical skills such as planning, leisure, safety and communication skills.

For scholarship information and program availability, please contact Nancy Desmond Nastasi at 781-942-4888, ext. 5036 or via email at ndesmond@theemarc.org

The Arc of East Middlesex
20 Gould Street
Reading, MA 01867-2927

Donate and Merchandise Pages Active Again

Thank you to the folks at Boston Interactive who whipped up a new Donate page and a new Merchandise page for our website. Everything looks great and is working fine, so please feel free to check them out!

Chris Chirco
Director of Programming
Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism, Inc.