Last year it was inaugural… this year it’s an institution! The Maia Chung Autism and Disabilities Foundation’s (MCADF) Autism and Disabilities Ambassadors competition 2012; the flagship event of the MCADF to commemorate global Autism month, is on this year and now even bigger and better.
The Founder of the organization Maia Chung says that the MCADF is hoping to motivate more Jamaican high school students than last year, to realize that helping the Autistic and disabled is more than just a fad, but a meaningful way to spend their time and access opportunities to develop their own lives in a positive and meaningful way.
The competition is one of the main efforts of the Foundation to help heighten awareness of Autism and other disabilities – with the specific intention to be MCADF’s special event to highlight global Autism month.
The competition will again be staged between January and April 28-2012, global autism month. Due to the elections the launch date was pushed back from the first Tuesday in January to the last.
The culmination of the event will for the first year ever, see The Wyndham sponsored Autism and Disabilities Banquet on April 28-2012, involving multiple course meal for 35 persons, chiefly winners and their families to honor their work. This will include the prize handover.
Last year’s winners Nicole Nation, Javanna Haughton and Shavell Skeel won multiple prizes - for their efforts in lifting the awareness of Autism through writing letters to the newspaper, published in the two national newspapers, calling for more tolerance for the disabled and for writing poems about the plight of the disabled, published also in national newspapers.
But outside of those aforementioned activities, the entrants in order to win the prizes had to organize displays at their schools, churches, community centres that dealt specifically with heightening awareness of various disabilities.
Volunteer with community disabilities groups and this has to be done for all the months leading into April 28-2012.
The displays must consist of well-designed posters about various disabilities accompanied by text, teaching about the disabilities highlighted.
Entrants must organize a fundraiser for a disabilities club on his or her school campus, raising money to advance a disabilities group’s needs, and all entrants must submit an essay about their response and understanding about a disability of her choice by April 2 -2012.
Last year’s overall winner Nicole Nation as the overall winner won prizes valued at approximately $100,000.
This year with added incentives and sponsors, the prize value for the top three have now advanced to half a million, cash prizes of tens of thousands of dollars, laptops, cell phones, education grants, as well as participation in the high end Autism and Disabilities Foundation banquet by the Wyndham all valued at just under a quarter of a million dollars.
The top winner will receive at least 300,000 dollars in prizes.
The top three also get the three trophies that accompany their other prizes, internships with national media houses as well as training courses in media disciplines.
According to media liaison for the project and board member Nicole Hayles-McGowan this year we intend to give away roughly 600-thousand dollars’ worth of prizes.
The competition is open to all 12 to 18 years old island wide males and females. The entries go through the mcautismfoundation@gmail.com web address for the MCADF.
Managing director of The Maia Chung Autism and Disabilities Foundation, Maia Chung, said "the competition was designed to see the competitors showing staying power and a true desire to be among the disabled in a positive way. We hope to show those who chose to enter that the disabled are great human beings who need our help in a special way."
She adds, “not only will you see prizes and learn about the disabled but we anticipate many of those involved maybe even learning that getting jobs to work in Jamaica with the Autistic and disabled is lucrative”.
The competition begins on January 31-2012 and the work starts immediately and goes for the period until we chose winners on April 2 global Autism day.
This will be announced on the 28 of April. And the work has to be consistent from start to finish and verified by a teacher, guidance counselor or preacher. The school of the overall winner will receive a trophy and a special award.
Contact mcautismfoundation@gmail.com
Or 350-0465 for details
Contacts Maia Chung 350-0465
Nicole Hayles 889-5676
Cassius Watson – 372 4674
