I have to say, I'm pretty sure I'm a member of the greatest fraternity on earth. I am a sister of Alpha Xi Delta and beyond proud to say so! Jacksonville State University just wrapped up formal recruitment on Sunday and brought home a beautiful pledge class of new baby Xi's. I say all of this because one of the days during recruitment - and my favorite of the five - is Philanthropy Day! Alpha Xi Delta is the national philanthropic partner of Autism Speaks, the world's greatest advocacy and autism research organization! It was such an honor to sit with my potential new sisters and tell them everything I know about Autism Speaks. Did you know that 1 in 68 kids are diagnosed with Autism every year and 1 in 42 of those kids are boys? Did you also know that it costs a family over $60,000 a year to treat and take care of an autistic child? Autism Spectrum Disorder is associated with disability intellectually as well as motor coordination, attention, and some physical health issues; however, people with ASD excel in visual skills, music, math, and art. Not to mention that some of the most amazing people you'll ever meet are affected by autism.

Alpha Xi helps to make more people aware of what autism is and do fundraising to help relieve the financial burden of families affected by autism. Our first event of the new school year is a Glow Run on my campus which we anticipate surpassing our fundraising goal of $18,000 (how awesome is that?). The run is $20 a person and the walk is $10 both come with a t-shirt (because what sorority event doesn't?). We also accept donations and there will be a silent auction at the event as well! I am personally raising $280 for our cause and the link to donate to my team is here:

http://events.autismspeaks.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1160680

Every cent of this money goes to help these families, we never see a penny of it. I believe that Autism Speaks is a very beneficial and honorable organization that not enough people know about. It is my job as an Alpha Xi Delta and a partner of Autism Speaks to start a conversation, inform people and lead more people to help others. Autism Speaks, I hope you're listening.