Word on the street is that Mike and Julie made it to the Flutie Bowl this year. It looks like a great event.

It looks like Team NECC is up and running and their donation site is as well. Head over to help Mike reach his goal of raising $5000 for John’s school.

The much anticipated Celtics drawing was held last night in front of a studio audience under the watchful eyes of accountants from our esteemed audit firm. The lucky winner? Danielle Ullrich! Her name was chosen randomly among all who have donated so far. Congratulations Danielle! Upon learning of her good fortune she exclaimed, “I never win anything!”, which may be true, but the real winner in all of this is John. To date Rob and I have raised an incredible $13,922.20 for NECC’s Annual Fund!

I believe that the most targetted and direct way to help a child with Autism is by providing the best learning environment possible, which is exactly what the Annual Fund is for. Yes, Autism research and awareness are important, but nothing will impact John’s immediate and long-term future more than pouring resources into what he needs the most to reach his fullest potential.

So, the next time you see John and he meets your eyes with a wave or a “bye, bye” please know that your donation has made this type of progress possible.

And, as Danielle and her husband Paul will attest after attending the Celts game this Friday, membership in the Marathon for John club has other rewards as well!

Last week I reached my personal goal of raising at least $3000 for the New England Center for Children. So as promised, the beard had to go. To be honest I don’t miss it. I grew it to raise awareness of what Mike and I were doing and it certainly served its purpose. In the course of three months several people asked me about the beard (mostly expressed as, “What’s up with that?”) and some lead to discussions of how their lives had been touched by autism. I read a similar story today about the president of Autism Speaks and his lapel pin. I might have to get some of those.

Although the beard may be gone, the fund raising continues. Our team of 15 is getting close to $100,000. Mike has totaled an impressive $9,148.20. My $3,504.00 to date has come from 48 people for an average of $73 per person. Amazing. Aunts, uncles, cousins, coworkers, classmates, neighbors, long-time friends, friends of friends. Especially surprising and humbling are the donations from folks I haven’t talked to in a while and even folks I don’t know personally. Thank you all for the support!

Rob and I have been blown away by the amount of support and encouragement we’ve received. So far we’ve raised an amazing $5,559.20 for John’s school!

To show our appreciation we’re holding a drawing for a chance to fill our Celtics season ticket seats to the game on 3/28 against New Orleans at 7:30pm. That’s $110 value, plus the invaluable experience of witnessing the play of the 2008 NBA World Champions! (Ok, maybe they have to get in and win the finals, but those games will be a mere formality.)

In order to be eligible for this random drawing you have to have your donation in by Tuesday 3/25, so if you haven’t donated already jump on in by clicking on the red Donate button below John’s picture.

*The above picture represents one of many seats to be filled for that game by all ticket holders. Your results may (ok, will) vary.