News and Knowledge

 Heather Easley is not a career marathon runner. She’s not a professional fundraiser. But she is determined, creative, and connected to a generous group of neighbors, friends, and family, in other words, everything she needs to be part of the RUN FOR AUTISM.

In February, she signed up to run the Chicago Marathon for OAR this coming October. “I knew I would need to raise money so a friend who has done this before told me I should look on the Internet.” Companies donate in-kind products and services for individuals who are fundraising. Easley dove in and signed up at a number of sites and then promptly forgot all about it.

Up, Up and Away
A couple of months later, an e-mail from Air Tran dropped into her mailbox to tell her that her application was accepted and the company would like to send her two round-trip tickets with a maximum value of $1,000.

Hmm, she thought, these would make great raffle prizes. But she didn’t want to raffle off just the tickets so she sat down with her husband and made a list of businesses in the town where they live, Springfield, Ill. Easley set off to ask each one for donations. “Most places were happy to give me something. A few said I had to write to company headquarters or talk to someone else.”

She ended up with a variety of donated items for the raffle, including homemade items donated by friends and family. She and her supporters began selling raffle tickets to everyone they knew.

As she considered her trove of raffle items, Easley decided that throwing a party would be a perfect way to end the raffle and raise even more money. She posted the party date, July 30, and location on various community calendars and the free community newspaper and anywhere else she could think of that was free. She lined up a local bar to have the party in, another donation thanks to a family connection. She asked her local grocery store, Walmart, and Target for gift cards and used those for food and party supplies.

A local TV station had her on the morning news to promote the party. That evening, about 25 people showed up and many of them bought raffle tickets. Others, says Easley happily, just gave her a contribution. At the end of the evening, she had raised $800, putting out exactly $0.40 of her own money, in addition to time and effort. And she wouldn’t have spent that much but she forgot to calculate tax on a meat tray for the party.

Her total fundraising goal is $2,000 and she’s raised $974 so far.

A Girl Named Abby
As with many of OAR’s runners, Easley had a very personal reason to run: her four-year-old daughter, Abby, who will turn 5 in October. “She’s really come into her own in the past year. She’s curious about everything. She loves being outside. If we go for a walk, she looks for leaves and when she finds one she likes, she picks it up and holds it. She also loves to go swimming and she is very interested in music.” Diagnosed with autism in 2010, Abby has been in early intervention programs since she was 2, notes Easley, adding that the early intervention has made a big difference. “She’s grown so much and takes direction so well.”

Easley started running because she wanted to get back in shape, setting a goal two years ago to run a marathon by the time she was 30. “I figured two years would give me time to get in good enough shape for the marathon.” Soon after Abby was diagnosed, Easley found the Chicago Marathon. “I knew then that I would run for an organization that is connected to autism. I saw OAR on the list and when I read about it, it seemed perfect.”

Easley believes that there is nothing special about her decision to run a marathon or her fundraising efforts. “If I can do it, you can do it.” She didn’t know anything about running a marathon, wasn’t connected to OAR, and didn’t really know what her fundraising plan was going to be. “But once I decided to run a marathon, I made a plan and it’s gotten me this far. When I’m 70, I’ll be able to say I ran the Chicago Marathon.”