A local child with autism will be able to better communicate with his family, friends and aides thanks to a fundraising effort initiated by Crawfordsville Kiwanis.
Mitchell Shell, 6, is non-verbal and experiences difficulty communicating. Through an adaptive tools program, Kiwanis members were able to tap into the compassion of the community to purchase Mitchell a brand new Apple iPad preloaded with the necessary tech to bridge the gap for his difficulties in speech.
“We had a great opportunity to meet Mitchell. We found out Mitchell doesn’t speak well, so we offered to buy him some adaptive equipment so he can speak with mom and all his helpers,” Kiwanis Lt. Governor Gary Behling said Thursday during a ceremony in the Donnelly Room at the Crawfordsville District Public Library.
“You’re really a star, Mitchell. So we’re going to give you a star. Mitchell, thank you,” Behling said, turning to the audience. “We raised the money for that thing in about a week. We really appreciate your efforts to sponsor that. It’s not just from us, it’s from the community.”
Kiwanis members now look to provide an adaptive bicycle for a child with spina bifida in the fall as the next installment of their adaptive tools program.
“We all had a bike growing up, for the most part. That’s important for your growth, and for just being able to be a kid and enjoy being a kid. Well, there are kids who can’t have bikes because they can’t fit them or they can’t use them,” Crawfordsville Kiwanis Vice President Caleb Wilson said at Mitchell’s ceremony. “So it started out with an adaptive bike program. Pretty quickly, we had that paid for and more. We asked around some more and tried to find some more adaptive services, and today we have one with us.”
For more information about Kiwanis, visit www.crawfordsvillekiwanis.club. Stay up to date with the local chapter on social media at www.facebook.com/CrawfordsvilleKiwanis.
