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Tampa Midtown Rotary Club Presents $22,000 to USF CARD and ABA Program

The Tampa Midtown Rotary Club presented $22,000 to the University of South Florida (USF) to support programs focused on helping individuals with autism and their families. The money was raised during their 11th Annual Cycling for Autism in October 2022. The check presentation was held at the monthly Midtown Rotary meeting January 12th, where Rotarians, 2022 sponsors, and USF representatives were on hand to celebrate the success of the most recent event.

 “In 2009, Tampa Midtown Rotary club made the decision to support autism services in our community,” said Ted Hamilton, Co-Chair of Cycling for Autism 2022. “Fundraising efforts through our annual cycling event have helped raise over $222,000 for programs at the University of South Florida, including the Center for Autism & Related Disabilities (CARD),  Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) master’s and PhD programs, and the Tampa Midtown Rotary Foundation. We are extremely pleased with the support of the 2022 fundraiser and are proud to help the programs at USF enhance their work in delivering education, services, and support to individuals with autism and their families.” 

“CARD builds community capacity to support and include individuals with an autism spectrum disorder. Tampa Midtown Rotary provides the funding to help CARD-USF do just that every day in the counties we serve, and we are extremely grateful for their confidence in our ability to be a good steward of their donations,” said Christine Rover, Assistant Director of Community Programs at CARD. “The 2022 event proceeds will support CARD’s safety projects that include wandering prevention and drowning prevention.” 

Funds given to the ABA program support a scholarship fund for graduate students. The most recent recipient used the funds to complete her research on enhancing parent participation, improving behavioral services and access to services for Hispanic children with autism, and helping kids with autism cope with teaching demands.

“As we continue to build the knowledge base about effective interventions for individuals with autism, we are proud to be able to offer this scholarship to well-deserving students,” said ABA Director Dr. Raymond Miltenberger. “We are so appreciative of the fundraising efforts of the Tampa Midtown Rotary, and enjoy working with them each year.” 

“It was wonderful seeing our past riders, new riders, their supporters and our sponsors in October,” said Hamilton. “It was a perfect day for a ride along the Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail with festivities afterwards at Whiskey Joe’s Restaurant. We thank all of our sponsors for their support and look forward to another successful ride in 2023.”

To learn more about Cycling for Autism riding teams and sponsorships, contact midtownrotarycycling@gmail.com or visit: https://www.tampamidtownrotary.org.