We Could All Use Charitable Giving to Wrap 2020 with a Win
The Summit Center is doing inspiring work for children and adults with social and behavioral disabilities. We'd like to take a moment to introduce them to you and tell you about the work they’re doing. We think this is a charity a lot of you can get behind after the year we've all had.
It goes without saying that 2020 was a tough, stressful year. It seems like nearly every day was brimming with letdowns and hardships. And the fuel tank for positive news has been running on fumes since March or April. So that’s why this holiday season—a season of love, charity, and giving—is perhaps more important than in recent years.
Most of us could use a break from the heartbreaking updates from friends and family. Giving back to our communities and helping people in need doesn’t just help the recipients of that charity. It benefits the spirit of the donors, too. And we could all use a little of that this year, right?
That’s why we’re so pleased to introduce you to an incredible organization operating in our company’s backyard. The Summit Center is committed to helping and educating children and adults with behavioral and social disabilities throughout Greater Buffalo and the region of Western New York. And Tent and Table wants to showcase their efforts and do our part to help their mission succeed.
Introducing Western New York’s Summit Center
Founded in the Greater Buffalo area in 1973 by a mother and teacher looking to expand her son’s speech and language skills, The Summit Center is Western New York’s top center for children and adults with social and behavioral disabilities.
The Summit Center provides a plethora of evidence based educational, behavioral health, and community support programs that directly impacts 1,350 children and adults with disabilities each and every year.
Related: ADA Compliance: Helping Children with Disabilities Have Fun
The Summit Center has many programs that help their students daily. But here are just a few of the impressive ways their organization is helping our community:
- The Early Autism Program offers early intervention for youths with autism under the age of five. The Summit Center helps children and their families prepare for kindergarten. Utilizing Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) techniques, the Early Autism Program is focused on improving social behaviors that help children communicate, socialize, play, and grow more independent
- Summit Academy is a specialized alternative education program for children and young adults with autism and other communication disorders and disabilities, with students ranging from three to 21 years
- Respite, a program that assists families with the burden of care after school, in evenings, and on weekends
- Project SEARCH, a school-to-work program that helps high school seniors with disabilities advance with integrated employment
- Programs like Access-VR that help adults with disabilities find supported work, better navigate their workspaces, and fulfill their personal needs while on the clock.
Other programs and initiatives include summer programs, adult day programs, webinars, workshops, live events, and more.
‘I Want to Be a Good Friend’
This pandemic has been hard on everyone, but arguably none more so than individuals with sensory disabilities. For many of us, wearing a mask is at worst a mild inconvenience. But it’s significantly more challenging for some of the Summit Center’s students.
The Summit Center’s Gabby Albert recently told Tent and Table an inspiring success story echoed from one of Summit’s classrooms. And this story beautifully captures the excellent work their organization does on a daily basis.
Help students with sensory disabilities grow more accustomed to mask wearing is essential. So one Summit Academy teacher asked students to wear their masks during virtual sessions online. Through encouraging repetition, students would eventually become more comfortable wearing masks in public.
One day, one of the students came to the virtual class already wearing their mask. When the teacher asked the student why they had already put it on, the student’s reply was genuinely moving.
“You’ve told us that wearing a mask means I’m being a good friend,” the student replied. “And I want to be a good friend to everyone in my class.”
Inspired by their classmate, all of the other students in the virtual class proceeded to put on their own masks. All without prompting. Through this student’s admiration of those they care about, they managed to inspire friendship in others.
Tent and Table’s Customers are Already Helping Summit Center
Encouraging fun, social play is an essential component of helping students with disabilities succeed. Overcoming social and communication barriers and maintaining physical activity is crucial. So what better way is there for Tent and Table to contribute to the Summit Center and its mission than by donating a bounce house?
During this holiday season, a percentage of all of TNT’s sales will be applied toward donating a commercial bounce house to the Summit Center. Simply buy any of our products, and a portion of the proceeds will directly benefit the Summit Center!
We also encourage you to join our staff in making other contributions to the Summit Center. Click here to make a direct financial contribution to their cause. For those of you who live in the Western New York area, you might consider volunteering as well.
Small businesses can directly help the Summit Center in other ways, too. You can donate to specific programs, sponsor events, host a fundraising event, or even turn your contribution into a gift for friends or family with an engraved brick on the Summit Center’s property.
As residents of the Buffalo area, the staff at Tent and Table would like to sincerely thank the Summit Center for all of the monumental work they do in our Western New York community. And we’d also like to thank you, our customers and friends, for your compassion and generosity.
This has been a difficult year for us all. But with organizations like the Summit Center doing passionate work, and with the charity of people like you helping their mission succeed, this season of giving can help us all end 2020 on a much needed high note.
