Grand Master's Project

2011 - 2012

My project for the upcoming year will be to raise money to help support the Birchtree Center in Newington, New Hampshire.

The Birchtree Center is an educational facility that operates a seamless and year round program for children and youth with autism.  Starting in 2001, the Birchtree Center became the first and only special education day program approved and registered with the State of New Hampshire Department of Education serving children and youth diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) beween 2 and 21 years of age.

Autism strikes 1 in 110 children and youth. More children and youth will be diagnosed with autism this year alone than are diagnosed with AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined.

One way or another each one of us knows some individual with autism. Perhaps is is the child of a friend, a neighbor, a family member, the child of a brother or sister member, or even your own child.

There is no cure for autism, and no one knows exactly what causes it, and research is making progress each year. With centers like the Birchtree Center we can give these children, youth, and young adults with autism a place to learn and develop  the skills needed for everyday life.

In Friendship, Love, and Truth

Jerry L. Flanders, Grand Master