Hello Everyone...Chris (and Haleigh) here. 

As most of you know, my youngest daughter Haleigh is on the Autistic spectrum and faces many challenges every day.  Even with these challenges, she is an extremely fun-loving, wonderful kid that is a joy to be around.  Summer is coming, and that brings along with it additional challenges for kids with special needs like Haleigh.  The familiar structure of school is gone and this can be very stressful for many of them.  What is needed is a program that allows them to have some structure and continuous learning, while also providing the opportunity for some much needed summertime fun.  Luckily, such a program exists thanks to some amazing parents in Ohio.  This summer, Haleigh is going to get to take advantage of this program, where she'll be joining many of her peers at Camp Sunshine.  Camp Sunshine is a summer camp in Aurora, OH held in the month of July for special needs children.  This camp provides specialized staff and attention to all of the needs of children with differing abilities.  To learn more about the camp and the many activities they partake in, please visit the website at campsunshineofaurora.org.

Operating a program of this magnitude takes the commitment of many wonderful people as well as a lot of funds.  In order to make it possible for all students that need the program to be able to attend, we have to raise money to keep costs down.  As you might guess, families with children of special needs usually have many medical bills, and it can be a struggle to come up with extra money for sending their children to programs like Camp Sunshine.  As such, an important part of the camp's activities for the parents is fund raising.

Ah ha...you knew I was going to start asking for money as soon as you started reading this didn't you!  :-)

Maria and I will be volunteering with some of the Camp Sunshine events this year.  In addition, I'm going to be running for the cause.  Now if you know me, I do run, but I certainly don't like it!  I do it for health reasons, but it's so monotonous that there are definitely other ways I like to get my cardio on.  Even so, I'm committing to running the 10k at the upcoming Cleveland Marathon.  I was thinking of trying the half, but I'm pretty sure I would die...either from the running or from boredom!  In addition, I'll be participating in some other runs throughout the year as I can squeeze them in.

That said, I'd like to ask that you consider using a portion of your charitable giving this year to sponsor me for the run, with all money going directly to supporting the Camp Sunshine program.  You can donate by cash or check (made out to 'Camp Sunshine of Aurora'), or you can donate securely online at our website through Paypal.  Just use the "Donate" link.  Please put my name in the comments section of your online contribution.  Your contributions of any amount are tax deductible. If you chose to donate by check, they can be sent to me at my home address (shoot me a DM or email for details).  Anything you can give would be appreciated as our camp relies very heavily on donations.  

Haleigh says thank you for helping and I'll add to that saying that I am very grateful for any support you can offer.  With your assistance, Camp Sunshine's "Run for the Sun" will be a great success.  The families that benefit from this appreciate it more than you will ever know.  Thank you so much!!!

Cheers!

Chris & Haleigh