Autism Speaks Muscles In on Local Ohio Fundraiser

[Guest guest]

This seems to be a duplicate of their failed tactics used to take over

a Vermont fund raiser for autism earlier this year. Is this the real

message AS " speaks " to the local autism communities -- " we're taking

over, butt out. " ?

Lenny

Dear Friends of Northeast Ohio Autism Group,

We have recently learned that Autism Speaks has scheduled an event for

autism almost identical to ours and near the same time. We would like

to clarify some information with all of you so there is no confusion.

Cleveland Rocks Autism was developed by board members of Northeast

Ohio Autism Group. We chose to donate the proceeds from this event to

Autism Speaks, a national organization, but asked that they keep part

of the funds local to the Cleveland area. We knew that keeping funds

local were just as important to our donors as it was to us. Autism

Speaks informed us of the Autism Treatment Network in Cleveland and

verbally specified that they would donate a portion of proceeds to

them -- and we trusted this. After repeated, unsuccessful attempts to

find how much money actually stayed local, we have found that there is

no Autism Treatment Network in Cleveland after all, and has not been

for quite some time.

In lieu of this, and the overwhelming need for more help on a local

level, the founding members of Cleveland Rocks Autism developed

Northeast Ohio Autism Group. We can guarantee you, without a doubt,

that all proceeds from our fundraising events will stay local to our

own communities. NEOAG's fundraising event for 2008 has been named

" Rock The Puzzle " in order to start new, so there is no confusion that

it is, indeed, a local event. We are an approved 501©(3) charity, so

all donations will be tax-deductible.

Please be educated on where your donation will go, no matter who you

choose to donate to. NEOAG agrees with Autism Speaks' ongoing

dedication to research, but does not agree with the desire to compete

with others for the same cause. We simply feel that monies raised

locally should stay local. We also hope that Autism Speaks will decide

to give back to the Cleveland community, which has been so supportive

of them, with proceeds from their upcoming event.

We hope this has clarified any confusion and if you have any

questions, please contact us -- we are wide open.

Thank you for your support and Happy Holidays!

NORTHEAST OHIO AUTISM GROUP

nne Seaman, Lindberg, Kathy Pahr, Bergant, le

Osborne

www.northeastohioautismgroup.org

www.rockthepuzzle.com

www.clevelandrocksautism.com

440.488.3473