I've already blogged about the difficulty with Hayden's lunches. About a month or so into the first day program he was accepted into, we learned the fabulous news they were partnering with a hot food lunch service. A welcome reduction in stress trying to figure out what to send him with every day & help reduce potential behavior triggers. This is quite uncommon for these programs to include a lunch service, so it is particularly amazing.
The second program Hayden attends the other days of the week is BYO lunch but it's also much smaller, so I had an idea for occasional Friday pizza delivery. Even with staff, currently just 3 pies would suffice so I asked the manager if perhaps other households might want to pitch in. If everyone contributed the cost would be $5 per person, per Friday that we order.
The manager was very appreciative of the idea but suggested that if I wanted to just treat Hayden to occasional delivery instead, that might be a better idea to change things up for him. She explained some of the program participants live in group homes & are on such a strict budget they simply would not be able to participate in occasional Pizza Fridays.
This broke my heart so I am doing something about it. Currently, based on the number of people who are there on Fridays, the cost for all individuals & staff to have a couple slices of pizza for lunch would be a total of $60.
If we can do this once monthly, great! Twice a month, even better. Whatever support we can generate they are a most deserving crew. Side note, I have already put together a large bucket with dozens of snacks so on any given day, any one of them can enjoy a little treat (even if they're not there on a Friday).
We appreciate anyone who can help spread the word & if you want to donate, please reach out to me or Dan! We are beginning this October which happens to have five Fridays, but so far we have support to cover at least two deliveries.
This program caters to adults with developmental disabilities to help them develop real skills & be contributing members of society at the same time... piece by piece they dismantle electronics for recycling. As a matter of fact, for more than fifteen years now, this is the state's only integrated electronics recycling & workforce development operation... turning e-waste into opportunity. Founded by a special education teacher who no longer wanted to watch his students graduate into a world offering too little for them, the idea grew from a single workshop into two campuses.
Hayden just graduated from a private school where he was very fortunate to have the support he needs, & enjoy pizza every Friday. He would look forward to it at the end of the week & so should the peers he disassembles with.
We want to continue to support both programs that Hayden is benefiting from, so we're not trying to gain national interest with this idea. Just occasional Pizza Fridays. There's no minimum, there's no long-term commitment, there's no we have to reach our goal... this is just an informal but most meaningful gesture for people who truly deserve it!
We hope you can help. This is going to be a surprise for them & we can not wait to learn of their excitement!
