ACEing Autism - Cincinnati & Beyond
Only thing that would be better is if everyone was actually wearing their bracelets for this picture!!
Photo Credit: OMS Photo
ACEing Autism has the distinction of being Zo Much More's OG Charity Partner and now they also have the distinction of placing Zo Much More's single largest order to date! Before she left for camp this summer, Zoe knocked out 200 specially designed ACEing Autism bracelets.
For the last several summers, ACEing Autism has held an annual meeting of sorts - inviting Staff, Program Directors from the 130+ locations around the country and Board Members - to come together for 3 days of training, sharing, bonding etc. in conjunction with the opportunity to provide one of our clinics at the US Open in Flusing Meadows, NY. We always enjoyed wonderful hospitality and access to the US Open facility as well as visits from many top players on the professional tour. This summer, we mixed it up and held our big event at another fantastic tournament: The Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, OH. We couldn't have been happier with how it all played out.
A couple months ago, the team from ACEing Autism HQ approached me about wanting to give out commemorative bracelets made by Zoe to everyone (staff, participants, parents, etc.) involved in this year’s event. They provided the guidance that it should be ACEing Autism themed and also incorporate something specific about this particular event (e.g. ACEing Cincy) - and otherwise we had creative freedom.
(As an aside, I should confess that having lived in Cincinnati for 5 years after grad school, I very confidently told them that no one who lives in Cincinnati calls in Cincy ... only to discover upon returning to the city 22 years later that "CincyTennis" is, in fact, about as frequently used as the word "the" at this tournament ... but that's not important right now.)
After a lot of trial and error, we settled on this design below:
We packaged each one with an insert that explained who Zoe is and her relationship to ACEing Autism - and the following:
Zoe used seed beads for these bracelets, which unlike most beads, are not uniform in size and shape echoing the familiar adage that if you have met one person with ASD, you have met one person with ASD.
Further, while they all have the same general look and feel, no two of these 200 bracelets Zoe made for this event are exactly alike either, just as each individual experience with ACEing Autism is the result of a unique combination of people, circumstances and tennis.
The light blue, white and dark blue beads are for colors of the ACEing Autism t-shirts; participants, volunteers and staff & program directors, respectively.
The yellow beads represent the sport of tennis ACEing Autism uses to create connection; There are 3 (the typical number of tennis balls in a can) scattered in each bracelet.
The letters CIN in ACEING are highlighted like 3 yellow tennis balls for this event’s host city, Cincinnati.
Of course, because these are Charity Partner Spirit Bracelets, Zo Much More will be donating 20% of topline revenue from this order to our current charity partner, Waypoint Adventure AND $1 per spirit bracelet to ACEing Autism. As is always our goal at Zo Much More, everybody wins!!
We’ve already incorporated many aspects of this design into a new and improved ACEing Autism Spirit Bracelet available for purchase anytime here.
And one last thing speaking of ACEing Autism …
Zoe & I will be captaining Team ACEing Autism for the 15th consecutive year at the annual Flutie Foundation 5K on Sunday, October 29th and this year, for this first time, it will be held at Boston College. This is always an incredibly fun day for everyone involved and we’d love to have you share it with us.
Thanks to the Flutie Foundation’s innovation and generosity, 100% of the money Team ACEing Autism raises will go to ACEing Autism. To celebrate our 15th anniversary, we’ve set a fundraising goal of $1,500 (although we would also be fine with $15,000)!
There are 3 main ways you can help us raise money for ACEing Autism through this event:
If you will be in the Boston area that day, you can join Team ACEing Autism in person to run, walk or roll as they say. Just register as a team member for ACEing Autism.
If you are in the area but not available that day OR if you are literally anywhere else in the world, you can join Team ACEing Autism virtually. Complete 5K on your own timeframe at your convenience and it counts! You can even fundraise with us as though you were in person if you’d like but there is no obligation to do so. Just register as a virtual team member for ACEing Autism.
If you just want to support ACEing Autism, you can also make a donation - 100% of that donation will go to ACEing Autism. Just click on the link below.
But however you choose, please be sure to select ACEing Autism as the Charity Partner or Team. You can use this link below:
https://raceroster.com/events/2023/75260/24th-annual-flutie-5k-for-autism/pledge/team/567161