Local Service Providers GO BLUE for Autism Awareness this April

PITTSFIELD, MA, MARCH 7, 2019 – April is Autism Awareness month, celebrated globally with various ‘GO BLUE’ campaigns. The goal of the Berkshire County, MA based campaign is to heighten awareness of services available to individuals and families impacted by Autism and to educate, celebrate, and empower those with Autism.

The local GO BLUE campaign is a joint effort of agencies who are part of the Autism Collaborative of Berkshire County.  The Autism Collaborative of Berkshire County is a group of local Autism service providers and agencies working together to educate, advocate and raise awareness of the services available in our community to families.  These providers include: AdLib, Autism Connections, Berkshire County Arc, Berkshire Family and Individual Resources, College Internship Program, Hillcrest Educational Foundation, Positive Behavior Supports, and United Cerebral Palsy of Western MA. Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. is supporting downtown businesses in their efforts to join the fold and working alongside the Collaborative in this initiative.

Together, these service providers are encouraging local businesses to GO BLUE by decorating their window displays in blue for the month of April. Community members are encouraged to wear blue each Friday of the month in solidarity.

The collaborating service providers are also promoting a calendar of special events for those with Autism and their caretakers which can be found at: http://bit.ly/AutismCollaborative

KICKOFF EVENT: The kickoff event for this month-long campaign is an Autism Resource Fair and Art Show, taking place on Friday, April 5 ^th , 5-7pm at AdLib in downtown Pittsfield, located at 215 North Street. This event, held in tandem with First Fridays Artswalk, will feature artwork from local residents with Autism and a resource fair where representatives from the collaborating service organizations will be in attendance with information about services available to individuals with autism and their families/caretakers.

RALLY: The capstone event will be a rally held on Friday, April 26 ^th , 5-7pm in Pittsfield’s Park Square. This event will be celebratory in nature and promote the accomplishments of individuals with Autism.

For more information contact Katrina Cardillo at BFAIR at 413-464-7232 ext. 17 or kcardillo@bfair.org or visit the Autism Collaborative of Berkshire County website at https://autismconnectionsma.org/berkshire-collaboration/