TACA's Adopt A Family Campaign

ANNOUNCING TACA's HOLIDAY ADOPT A FAMILY CAMPAIGN


Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) is pleased to announce its first annual Adopt-A-Family Holiday Campaign! The holiday season is a happy time filled with warmth, love, generosity and hope – and it is through the special holiday generosity of the Northrop Grumman Corporation that we are able to launch this program.

TACA will be adopting approximately 20 families to help provide the things that will make this holiday special. We will be providing holiday gifts for your children, assistance with special needs such as diapers, groceries, vitamin supplements, etc., and the delivery of a special holiday dinner. Holiday giving will be valued at approximately $200 and will be based on family need and family size.

Apply to be Adopted – Deadline December 14, 2005

If you are a family in need, we will do our best to make 2005 a special holiday season for your family. To qualify, you must:

* Be a TACA member
* Have at least one child with autism
* Live in California
* Be recommended by a TACA coordinator

Please Send the Following Information to Your Local TACA Coordinator:

* Your name, address, and telephone number
* The number of children in your family and their ages (please include some ideas of what they might enjoy for the holidays.)
* Information about your child with autism and their special needs.
* A brief statement on your need this holiday season.
* Whether you are being considered for another adopt-a-family program

TACA Coordinators:

Orange County Lisa Ackerman tacanow@cox.net

Greater Los Angeles Area Debbie Gonzalez bluerus@hotmail.com

San Fernando Valley Moira Giammetteo moira@netzero.com

San Diego County Becky Estepp restepp@sbcglobal.net

Inland Empire Tami Duncan TACAInlandEmpire@aol.com

Central California Lynne Arnold lynne@autisminterventioncentralca.org

Family applications will only be accepted by e-mail.


Join TACA in Making This Holiday Season One to Remember:


Your help will allow us to reach more than the 20 families we are budgeted for:

* Sign up to be a delivery person, shop for the family, and experience the joy of helping others in your area.
* Enjoy your holiday even more by knowing you have made a difference through adopting a family yourself (guidelines below)
* Donate cash or in kind items to the TACA Adopt-A-Family Campaign. You can do this via mail (see address below) or via online at http://www.tacanow.com/shop.htm.

To help please contact Lisa Ackerman at (949) 640-4401 or e-mail tacanow@cox.net.

Adopt-A-Family Guidelines:


* Call (949) 640-4401 or email tacanow@cox.net to register to Adopt-A-Family.
* Purchase gifts for each child. You are not obligated to spend more than $25 for each gift.
* Purchase a gift certificate from a grocery store chain. The dollar amount should be at least $15 for each family member regardless of age.
* Make plans to prepare or purchase a holiday dinner for your family.
* Call your family no later than December 20 and make arrangements to drop off your gifts.
* Call or email tacanow@cox.net TACA and let us know that you have dropped off gifts to your family and share the story of giving during this holiday season.

Special note: if funds received exceed number of qualified families we will continue this program throughout the year to assist families in crisis.

Special thanks to Debbie Gonzalez and Northrop Grumman Corporation for their assistance in making this happen! We truly appreciate the support and the desire to help TACA families in need. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!