Kevin’s special Pals hosted its 6th annual fundraising picnic to bring awareness to children with autism in the Houston Community. The organization provides a day of fun filled activities that both adults and children from the autism community can participate in.
“My son Kevin Salley inspired this program because he has mild autism and we wanted to do something in his name to bring awareness to the autism. My son is very involved in everything that we plan and now that he is an adult, he has become a big brother to a lot of the other children in the autism community” said fundraiser chair Delphine Salley.
Kevin’s Special Pal’s day at the barn treated its guests to hayrides, trailrides, live music, games, horseback riding, food and an authentic petting zoo. When asked how Kevin got his idea for hosting such a wonderful event proud dad Bernard Salley responded; “My wife and I were very hands on with coaching him in the Special Olympics. We saw how he began to develop from participating in different activities. We really started to notice how hands on he was with the animals at our barn but his interaction with horses seem to really help with his everyday skills. We got to thinking how others might be able to benefit from being around the animals. We talked it over and before we knew it Kevin’s Special Pal’s day at the barn was invented”.
The Salley family closed out the night with a potato sack race and go western competition complete with prizes and giveaways along with sign up booths for volunteers who would like to join Kevin’s Special Pals upcoming events.
