Bowling 4 Autism

Hello, My name is Sammy Sanchez and I'm a Police Officer with the Phila. Police Dept. I am also a father of a child with autism. For the past few years my wife and I have had fundraisers to raise money to buy brand new Ipads to be donated to local Philadelphia schools with autistic support programs. With the School District's financial struggles we knew they could not provide these special kids with the tools they need to have a better chance to succeed in school and grow to live full productive lives.   When we made the sacrifice and bought our son his 1st IPad, we saw with our very own eyes how valuable that purchase was for him. In addition we installed special software that only works on the Ipads that is designed to give children with autism the chance to learn how to communicate verbal or nonverbal. My son has gone from 30-40% verbal to 75-80% over the last few years.   Since seeing and experiencing my sons growth with this educational tool, my family has made it our business to do what we can to help other children with autism so in 2014 "Bowling 4 Ipads" was born. In our first yr we were able to raise close to $8000. The word spread and in the 2nd we almost double at $15,000 3rd $12,000 and last year we came up on top with our biggest to date at $17,000. Unfortunately because Apple has the only devices that run the software needed for the autism programs we were limited on how many we could buy do to the cost of Apple tablets but every dollar raise 100% of it goes to purchasing the IPads.   We also provide protective cases, and screen protectors and most importantly the Proloquo2go software that gives that nonverbal child like our son the chance to finally be able to communicate there wants and needs once they get to learn how to use it.   There's no one I know today who is not in some way directly or indirectly in contact with someone with Autism. The numbers speak for themselves and they're at an alarming rate.  My family's goal for the future is that, Bowling 4 Ipads continues for many years to come. With the hope to be able to give to all local Philadelphia schools in the future so they too can take full advantage of the donations as our past recipients have. Because of our donations many of the schools are able to apply and are now being except for grants to buy more IPads after showing the improvements in the students education because of our initial donation to the school. That was great news to hear and even more motivation to keep "Bowling 4 IPads" going. Please help us continue this effort to support the schools going forward. Your help is appreciated as we look to continue raising funds to support these special children. I once heard "To Make History You Must 1st Make A Difference" I'm not trying to make history but I am trying to make a Difference. Thank You Sincerely Sammy Sanchez