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And the winner is….
Claudia W. of Brooklyn, NY with 52% of the vote!!
The new slogan for The Foorce is “taking the special needs movement by storm” (though I definitely plan to borrow the others from time to time).
To those of you who came to help out today or who generously dropped off donations, please accept my most sincere gratitude. The event was a huge success – we collected so many gifts and donations that the shelter couldn’t get them all back in one trip! Congratulations and thank you for sharing holiday spirit with a lot of families and children today.
Call for Speakers for the 2011-12 meeting season
Many of you who read my blog have met me at one of the PS 163 cafe meetings over the past 2 years. We have had some really amazing speakers this past school year, and in an effort to outdo myself I am putting out a notice for some of the meeting topics that could benefit from a couple more people.
Right now I am looking for:
1) Parents of special needs children who a) are entering a special needs NYC approved private elementary, middle or high school, or b) have a special needs child who has transitioned from a public school to a private school setting, or c) have a special needs child who resides in a CTT or contained pubic school classroom setting in grades 1-12 who would be willing to sit in a round table discussion about their experience with the school, the search for the right school, the admission process, and answer questions from other parents.
2) Agencies or individuals who provide an extracurricular service to the special needs population, such as sports, music, art, a social skills group, a mentoring program, tutoring, etc.
3) Financial planners or consultants with experience in planning for the future financial needs of families with special needs members.
4) Special needs people with a unique talent in music, art, cooking, athletics, or anything you’d like to mention!
If interested, please email me at msearfoorce@gmail.com with your information so I can fill in a few spots for next year’s meetings. I will post more details regarding each meeting as dates and information becomes available. Also keep an eye out for the post about our Summer group’s first meeting!
We are on a waiting list for James to have the Best Day
I was excited to stumble across the Best Day Foundation, which provides some really unique experiences for kids with special needs. We just filled out a participant application, and would like to volunteer for this foundation as well. The closest location for a Best Day is in NJ, but it looks well worth the trip.
Here is an excerpt from their site:
What We Do
Mission
Best Day Foundation enables children with special needs to build confidence and self-esteem through safe, fun adventure activities which stretch their limits, expand their true potential, reinforce their achievement, and connect them with diverse populations in their community. Current activities include Surfing, Body Boarding, Kayaking, and Snow sports.
Strategy
We achieve this by empowering communities across the country to offer special days at the beach and snow to children with special needs. Best Day provides back-end services, support, training, and business resources to ensure that safe, self-sufficient programs are created. The program is funded through donations, grants and sponsorships. Due to funding, it is currently a 100% volunteer-run organization.
History
Best Day is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit (Tax-ID 26-2223078) founded in March 2008 in Santa Cruz, CA by Max Montgomery and Brooks Lambert, two long-time Ride a Wave volunteers who wished to bring services like the award-winning Ride a Wave program to other communities.
Currently Best Day has chapters in New Jersey and Ventura, CA.
Learn more about us, our Best Day at the Beach or Best Day in the Snow program or read our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).
Please contact us if you can’t find what you’re looking for after browsing or searching the site.
Click http://www.bestdayfoundation.org/get-involved/ if you want to know more about volunteering, participating, donating, or even forming a local chapter closer to NYC. If you’ve had any experience with this group, please leave comments below!
The Foorce 
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