I am running with a five-person relay team in the Mercedes Marathon in February to fundraise for the precious children of The Bell Center. We have dubbed ourselves “Service Guild Sisters with Blisters” and have each committed to run a leg of the race, raising a $100 per mile. We are all volunteers of The Service Guild in support of The Bell Center – early intervention for children at risk for development delays.

This year, I am running for Josiah, who I get the awesome opportunity to assist in classroom on Fridays. He is an energetic, loving three-year-old who loves hands-on games and playing peek-a-boo. As a child with Autism he quickly finds ways to communicate with his peers and teachers – which is such a privilege for me to witness. Please join me in helping support the development and growth of Josiah and all the other children by pledging a donation to support The Bell Center.

The Bell Center is dedicated to maximizing the potential of children from birth to three years of age who are at risk for developmental delay.The staff of The Bell Center begins the work of maximizing a childs potential as soon as the child is evaluated. This evaluation assesses a childs strengths and weaknesses across five developmental domains: gross motor, fine motor, expressive and receptive language, cognition and emotional/social. From this assessment, each member of the childs transdisciplinary team develops goals in each area specific to that child.The Bell Center follows a transdisciplinary approach to providing early intervention services. This allows all areas of the childs development to be targeted every time they are at The Bell Center. Through this frequent targeting of developmental goals comes success as goals are achieved. As one goal is mastered, the next appropriate goal is is targeted, ensuring that the child is always striving to maximize their potential.