We've donated over $50,000 to the University of Washington Autism Clinic!

This blog post is a little different than our usual, very informative posts written by specialists in the industry to give actionable advice for those raising and helping those with special needs.

This is a blog post more about a milestone we have passed as a company and a community.

We are excited to announce that since we started donating 1% of our monthly sales to the University of Washington Autism Center, we have passed over $50,000 donated in total!

First off, we want to acknowledge that this is truly a Harkla community milestone. Being able to donate that amount of money comes from people in our community choosing to shop with us. To be honest, I don’t feel like it’s our company giving the donation, but rather our customers.

So we, as the company, want to thank our customers for supporting our greater mission as a company, which is to help those with special needs to live happy and healthy lives.

We try to accomplish this in many ways, through high-quality products, bend-over-backward customer service, lifetime guarantees, and tons of free content on our blog. Giving over $50,000 to the UW Autism Center is just another avenue we’ve found that can make an impact in the world of those with autism.

We’re so grateful to partner with Harkla! Their generosity continues to provide scholarships so kids can attend Apex Summer Camp at the UW Autism Center. This past summer we hosted over 120 kids ages 6-12, supported by over 60 highly qualified staff. We’re grateful to Harkla for supporting kids and families!
-Dr. Ben Aaronson, Director, UW Apex Summer Camp Program

How Does This Money Help The University of Washington Autism Center?

When we donate the money every month, we split it between two funds for the UW Autism Center that we believe support their mission in two ways.

One of the funds we donate to is UW Autism Center Family Support Fund. This fund provides financial support to families who are receiving services from the Autism Center and are experiencing financial hardships.

The services are typically related to occupational therapy and other relevant treatments for children with autism.

The other half of our donation goes to a general UW Autism Center fund. This helps support different activities that are always ongoing at the Center. Here are the things this fund supports and the cost of them:

• $50 - Toys and materials. For our intervention and summer-camp programs.
• $150 - Clinical scholarships. For family consultation visits with our autism experts.
  $500 - Workshops. Support innovative programs for parents, educators, and healthcare professionals.
• $1,000 - Behavioral consultation. Short-term therapy to address goals in areas such as sleep, self-control, and toileting.
  $2,500 - Screening and diagnosis. For a family – the first step in changing a child’s life.
• $5,000 Training Fellowships. To prepare future professionals for clinical and research careers in autism.
• $10,000 - Pilot research. Seed funding for novel autism research initiatives.

You can learn more about these funds here.

There is actually a third fund that we donate money to for the UW Autism Center. The last couple of years, we have set up a $5,000 scholarship to their Apex Summer Camp.

This $5,000 is designed to fill in the gaps between how much the summer camp costs and how much insurance will cover plus what families can afford to pay. The director, Dr. Aaronson, has said this helps the largest number of children possible attend the camp that otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.

You can check out a video about the Apex Summer Camp here:

This summer camp offers children a huge chance to change the direction of their lives. Not only is it 5-weeks of therapy wrapped up in a fun summer camp, but it includes a weekly follow-up booster program and other programs throughout the year.

If you want to learn more about Apex, click here.

So, overall, I just want to say that I’m extremely proud of the community we have here at Harkla. And it’s not just the customers who are in this community. If you like us on Facebook, are part of our Autism Parent Support Group on Facebook, or are just on our email list to follow our blog, you are part of the Harkla community.

Being part of this community means you are part of our greater mission to help those with special needs to live happy and healthy lives, and we are very grateful to have you on this journey with us.

Thanks again,

Casey Ames
Founder of Harkla