North East Ohio Autism Group - Serving families and children living with Autism

The officers of NEOAG helped plan a hugely successful benefit called Cleveland Rocks Autism in the spring of 2007 at House of Blues. We raised over $240,000 which was donated to a national autism organization. Northeast Ohio Autism Group was developed for the purpose of keeping all of the funds raised at this event local to the Northeast Ohio area.

This year's fundraising event to benefit our autism community through Northeast Ohio Autism Group was held on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at House of Blues Cleveland.

We anticipate another sold out crowd and hope to surpass 2007's earnings. Please visit www.rockthepuzzle.com or www.clevelandrocksautism.com for more information on one of Cleveland's top parties of the year. Our success will again depend on the generous support of our sponsors and donors. Together we can make a huge impact on helping the thousands of people in our area to have a better life.

THE AUTISM RESOURCE CENTER LIBRARY PROJECT

The library project was inspired by the loss of one very important man, Richard C. Seaman. As the grandfather of a boy with autism, he exemplified the importance of the role of a grandparent in the life of a child with special needs. "Goompa" was taken from us all too suddenly in the summer of 2007. The library project was created in his memory to help other grandparents, parents and caregivers understand more about autism so they too can learn and follow by his example.

Our first Autism Resource Center will be open in April of 2008 and is featured at Chardon Library, 110 East Park Street, Chardon in Geauga County. Additional centers in neighboring counties, including Lake and Cuyahoga, will follow.

If you would like to be a part of this project, you can dedicate a book to a loved one by making a $25 donation to NEOAG. We will then purchase a needed book that will be labeled on the inside cover per the donor's specification. This book will then be included within one of the resource centers at the libraries. Please click here to download the necessary donation form in Adobe PDF format. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Marianne Seaman at 440.488.3473.

DESIGN A WINE LABEL CONTEST

NEOAG teamed up with Grand River Cellars for the 'Design a Wine Label Contest'. This contest was open to pre-school and school-age children who have an official diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The children were invited to create a colorful piece of artwork that would be used on the label of one of Grand River Cellars' wines for autism'. These two wines, Austin's Red and Austin's White, were created for the purpose of supporting the local autism community. A portion of the proceeds from Austin's Red and Austin's White are donated to NEOAG.

The winners for 2008 are Anthony, age 11, and Michael, age 3 and their beautiful artwork is shown in the labels above. We had a huge response and over 60 submissions from area children. NEOAG and Grand River Cellars plan to hold this contest annually. These special wines with the winning artwork are released each year at NEOAG's annual fundraising event, Rock The Puzzle, at House of Blues Cleveland in the spring. For more information, please visit www.rockthepuzzle. To see all the 2008 entries, please click here.

Austin's Red and Austin's White are available for purchase at www.grandrivercellars.com or by calling 440.298.9838. If you have any questions, please contact Cindy Lindberg at 440.231.0991 or at grcinfo@grandrivercellars.com.

KIDS ROCK THE PUZZLE is a division of NEOAG's fundraising group, Rock The Puzzle. Area children have been putting their creative skills to work by beading necklaces, bracelets and wine charms. These pieces of jewelry are then sold in order to raise funds for NEOAG.

The project began as a way to give siblings and friends of those with autism a chance to help in their own way. NEOAG recruits area siblings and friendsto help, in hopes that they can feel good that they are helping other kids.

Kids Rock The Puzzle wine charms are available for sale at all of NEOAG's fundraising events. Don't miss out on these wonderful additions for your stemware, whether as a gift or for yourself (or both!).