Coming to Broken Arrow this Saturday, April 11th, Puzzle Piece Palooza promises to be a festival of family fun! The event will feature bouncy houses, face painters, balloon artists, a magic show, live music, vendor booths, food trucks, a raffle and more! Best of all the event is destined to do significant good in the Broken Arrow community with 100% of all proceeds from the event to be donated to Autism Speaks helping raise awareness and acceptance for children across the autism spectrum. Puzzle Piece Palooza will take place April 11th from 10:00am – 4:00pm at Chisolm Trail South Park in Broken Arrow.
Five years ago, a beautiful baby boy was born. His name was Ethan. At the time, Ethan’s family didn’t know how special he was. As he grew he began to show signs that something was a bit different. Over the years, Ethan has opened their eyes and hearts to a piece of the world they did not understand. The world of Autism is fast paced and colored outside the lines.
Autism Speaks, a global Autism Advocacy organization estimates that 1 in 68 children are on the autism spectrum. An estimated 3 million people in the United States and tens of millions of people world wide are effected by autism.
Autism is a word that refers to a wide range of developmental disorders that some people are born with or develop early in life. This group of disorders makes up what doctors call the autism spectrum. It affects the brain and makes communicating and interacting with other people more difficult. People on the autism spectrum often have trouble talking and understanding language from an early age. It can be hard for them to play games and understand the rules when they are kids. As they become teens, people on the autism spectrum might have trouble understanding what clothes are cool to wear, or how to play sports, or how to just hang out and talk.
Seeing the world differently can also produce amazing results. Wolfgang Mozart was a prodigy composer at an early age and went on to compose famous symphonies, concertos, and operas. We fell in love with James Durbin on season 10 of American idol. Suzanne Boyle stole our hearts with her audition for Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. Tim Burton has written and produced numerous films, such as Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns. Dan Akroyd has been entertaining us for years with such great films as Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters and has been bringing laughter to our homes for over 30 years on Saturday Night Live.
After witnessing this amazing new view of the world, Ethan’s family decided it was time to bring more awareness to Autism. The hope was to create more acceptance for everyone on the spectrum through awareness. So Puzzle Piece Palooza was created with the desire to celebrate all children on the spectrum and invite the community to participate.
Meetings occurred and excitement built. Bouncy houses were ordered. Face painters were scheduled. Food trucks were arranged. But soon after designing the ultimate fun filled event, the reality of funding the event began to weigh upon the family. Finding sponsors proved to be difficult and with deadlines looming, the fear of having to cancel entered their minds. When things looked the most bleak the phone rang.
Little did they know, three days before in her quiet prayer time Kim Ward, of Kemp Ward Concrete felt a calling. On the other end of that phone call was the answer to the family’s prayers. Kemp Ward Concrete would now be the presenting sponsor of Puzzle Piece Palooza.
“We just felt that this was something we were supposed to do” said Kim.
Kemp Ward Concrete is owned and operated by Kemp and Kim Ward who have made it their mission to help others. When they are not drilling water wells in Africa, or educating schools and churches about life in third world countries, the Wards do some of the finest concrete work in Northeastern Oklahoma. Handling both commercial and residential work, Kemp Ward Concrete does more than just great work. They solve problems others wouldn’t tackle.
With the event back on track, the Puzzle Piece Palooza is ready to make a difference in the Broken Arrow community on April 11th from 10:00am to 4:00pm. The event will be held at Chisholm Trail South Park and is completely free to attend. All proceeds from the event will be donated to Autism Speaks.
For additional information on becoming a sponsor or applying for a vendor booth contact Puzzle Piece Palooza at their website, www.puzzlepiecepalooza.com.
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