SPECIAL Maine-Tex Explosion
Donation protected
Hello!
My name is Stephanie Lay and I am the owner of Maine-Tex Grilled salsa, and the founder of the SPECIAL Foundation for Autism, and I’m about to change the world of autism with salsa. That’s right, you heard me, salsa!
I have been an autism activist for a decade, and I just became a salsa maker out of nowhere in the last eight months. This amazing adventure began when I posted a picture of my son (Bryce) grilling the veggies for a grilled salsa recipe I’ve been making for eleven years. Within two weeks I had 109 orders, a patent attorney, the USDA, and a food scientist involved in my life; Maine-Tex was born.
In April, a local news station did a story on our new adventure and that story was shared over 100,000 times. From that, a magazine in Paris, France did a four page article on us, then RFD TV in Nashville, Tennessee did a live interview, and we have been on several radio stations... all of this shot Maine-Tex to the moon, and we recieved more attention than we ever could imagine.
My arms will always lie in the arms of autism, so here's my idea...
A portion of the proceeds from the salsa sales will go to the SPECIAL (Special Parents Establishing Connections In Autism Lives) Foundation to fund a work program for the salsa company and young adults aging out of the system. My dream is to have the majority of our employees be on the spectrum or with special needs.
This new business model will hopefully catch on, and other companies will follow. With the rise of autism we have to figure something out. When my son was diagnosed in 2002, it was 1-500 kids; now it's 1-62. Employment needs to be created for this population.
Every single penny I have made has gone back into this adventure, and then some. We're needing financial help to keep this dream alive, and hoping you will help fund this dream, too.
Thank you for your support,
Stephanie S. Lay
PS. You can find our stories at the websites below.
www.specialfoundationforautism.org
www.mainetexgrilledsalsa.com
My name is Stephanie Lay and I am the owner of Maine-Tex Grilled salsa, and the founder of the SPECIAL Foundation for Autism, and I’m about to change the world of autism with salsa. That’s right, you heard me, salsa!
I have been an autism activist for a decade, and I just became a salsa maker out of nowhere in the last eight months. This amazing adventure began when I posted a picture of my son (Bryce) grilling the veggies for a grilled salsa recipe I’ve been making for eleven years. Within two weeks I had 109 orders, a patent attorney, the USDA, and a food scientist involved in my life; Maine-Tex was born.
In April, a local news station did a story on our new adventure and that story was shared over 100,000 times. From that, a magazine in Paris, France did a four page article on us, then RFD TV in Nashville, Tennessee did a live interview, and we have been on several radio stations... all of this shot Maine-Tex to the moon, and we recieved more attention than we ever could imagine.
My arms will always lie in the arms of autism, so here's my idea...
A portion of the proceeds from the salsa sales will go to the SPECIAL (Special Parents Establishing Connections In Autism Lives) Foundation to fund a work program for the salsa company and young adults aging out of the system. My dream is to have the majority of our employees be on the spectrum or with special needs.
This new business model will hopefully catch on, and other companies will follow. With the rise of autism we have to figure something out. When my son was diagnosed in 2002, it was 1-500 kids; now it's 1-62. Employment needs to be created for this population.
Every single penny I have made has gone back into this adventure, and then some. We're needing financial help to keep this dream alive, and hoping you will help fund this dream, too.
Thank you for your support,
Stephanie S. Lay
PS. You can find our stories at the websites below.
www.specialfoundationforautism.org
www.mainetexgrilledsalsa.com
Organizer
Stephanie Lay
Organizer
North Windham, ME
