Autism awareness begins with local group

    Murphy - Tuesday night is pizza night, but instead of bringing pizza home to just her family, Bea Zajkowski brings it to Kids in Stride to share with all the families gathering for an autism caregiver support group.
    The group sometimes has guest speakers, shares local resources and educational materials, but it always is time for caregivers to get together and talk. Children have something to do during the meetings, too.
    “Everyone should come,” Zajkowski said. “It’s awesome we can all come as a family.”
    The Cherokee County Chapter of the Autism Society of North Carolina meets on the second Tuesday of every month at Kids in Stride on U.S. 64 West. Piyali Ganguly is the group’s leader, but insists everyone is a leader in educating and motivating others. She was happy to see there was an Autism Society chapter shortly after her family moved here about three years ago, so she could continue to have the support for her and her 26-year-old son.
    She would also like to work with members of the community – like first responders – to provide awareness on to how respond appropriately to their children, and make sure no one hurts or takes advantage of their children.
    “I feel our children are so innocent and so trusting,” she said. “That’s my biggest fear.”
    Ganguly wants all on the spectrum to be able to live a quality life. She thinks the community can provide that, once they meet and get to know their kids.
    “They can be very healthy, contributing members of society,” she said.
    Elizabeth Ference welcomed the local chapter of the society to meet at her business shortly after opening and seeing how many of her patients were affected by autism.
    “I wanted to provide a space for families to meet each other,” she said. “I felt like there was a lack of community support for these families.”
    According to information provided by the Autism Society of North Carolina, 1 in 59 schoolchildren in the state may be diagnosed with autism, and more than 16,000 students in schools across the state have autism. As of a headcount from December, Cherokee County Schools serves 43 students ages 3-22 with autism.
    The local group is gearing up for spring fundraisers – like getting restaurants and stores to participate in Shop & Dine 4 Autism on April 21, plus creating pieces for the May Art Walk in downtown Murphy. Last year, one local restaurant participated in Shop & Dine 4 Autism, and Ganguly would like to see more businesses participate this year. Interested businesses should contact Heather Hargrave at 919-865-5057 or hhargrave@autismsociety-nc.org.
    For the Art Walk, kids are making their own works of art, pricing the works and selling them to raise funds for the chapter to provide services. Ganguly said it is a great opportunity for the community to meet those with autism and learn more about them. They will also have flyers to hand out at the event. Plus, anyone who finds a painted black rock with a gold puzzle piece will get a special prize when they return the rock to the Autism Society’s booth.
    For details about the local group, email piyali521@gmail.com, join facebook.com/groups/asnc.cherokee or visit autismsociety-nc.org.
    
Flowers need
sponsorships
    Andrews – Businesses, clubs, churches and individuals are invited to help make the town beautiful by sponsoring a flower basket to hang on one of the 24 stands throughout downtown.
    Sponsorships are available for $195, with funds going toward the cost of the baskets and town gardens. Plaques with sponsor names are mounted on the poles. The goal is to have 65 sponsors overall.
    This is the fourth annual Beautification Project from the Town of Andrews and Andrews Chamber of Commerce. Applications are due by Friday, March 6, in order to have plenty of time to order flowers and sponsorship plaques. For details, call 321-2111.
    Samantha Sinclair is the Scouting Around columnist for the Cherokee Scout. You can reach her by phone, 837-5122, Ext. 24; or email, scoutingaround@cherokeescout.com.