On Friday 16 June, 100 youths with special needs, accompanied by their 100 caregivers will enjoy a day of decorating fun at the Dulcie September Hall in Athlone.
Hosted by Be MyVoice Cookies, which launched in April last year to commemorate Joshua Sandy’s 15th birthday and coinciding with World Autism Day, will see hundreds of cookies and cupcakes decorated at the event.
Joshua was diagnosed with Autism at the age of two, and his parents Marc Sandy and Sandy Pekeur-Sandy launched Nosh For Josh foundation to help create awareness around the condition.
The aim of Be MyVoice Cookies is to help fund their initiatives and assist special needs youths in making a living.
Their big Youth Bake Off will go ahead on Friday 16 June, but the organisation is appealing to locals for donations of much-needed ingredients to aid them in baking the goods to be decorated.
While the entry fee for participants is ingredients on the day, the goods are baked before the event for decoration to take place on the day.
“Joshua is non-verbal, but when he bakes, he is actually verbal and he understands instructions and follows instructions beautifully,” says Pekeur-Sandy.
There is a sense of accomplishment for Joshua, she says.
“The community bake-off is all about our special needs youths and adults who never had that feeling of appreciation. When it comes to special needs, they are very neglected and bypassed. Nobody does anything for our community with special needs,” she says.
They hope to continue growing this initiative to allow people with special needs to bake and distribute cookies daily.
Their appeal is for baking ingredients of flour, eggs, oil, butter, sugar, baking powder or icing sugar and are willing to collect up to Wednesday next week to allow enough time for baking.
- To donate, call 0725055384 or email sandyp0204@gmail.com
