Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Micro-Charities and Autism

A dream that was not crushed by the terrorists on 9/11.

Tracy was among the thousands of loved ones who had the bittersweet experience of receiving a phone call from WTC that September morning, as Brent called to let her know all was well in his tower. This was to change, however, when the second plane hit.

Tracy finally reached Brent on the 87th floor of the South Tower, where he had reached a locked door. Brent--6-foot-5, handsome, a college athlete at Berkeley and former minor league pitcher for the Cubs--assured his wife of 31 that everything would be all right.

And like so many people that bright clear day, that call was the last time Tracy heard her husband's voice. . . .

Not long before 9/11, Tracy and Brent had started talking about launching a foundation that would provide free care-giving education to families of children with autism. For the less familiar, autism is a neurological disorder that appears during the first three years of life. Estimates are that it occurs in approximately 2 to 6 in 1,000 individuals, and typical characteristics include problems with social relationships and emotional communication. . . .

Here is the Mission statement of the Brent Woodall Foundation for Exceptional Children.

Here is more information on Strengthen The Good, a blogger micro-charity "Using the power of weblogs for open-source charity. Don't just fight evil: Strengthen the good."