Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.-A benefit will be held Saturday [April 21] to help raise money for construction of a $50,000 outdoor therapeutic motor laboratory at Mississippi State.
The pancake breakfast and other fundraising efforts will take place 8-10 a.m. at Applebee's restaurant on Highway 12. Purchase of $5 tickets qualifies participants for a drawing for prizes, among them a DVD player and iPod.
The effort is in support of Project IMPACT, an educational program designed to help developmentally delayed children at the university's T.K. Martin Center for Technology & Disability. The local Applebee's is co-sponsoring the event.
Staff and parents of children from birth-5 years old with developmental delays who attend Project IMPACT have spearheaded the fundraising campaign to build an outdoor structure that will include a slide and climbing structure.
Martin Center director Janie Cirlot-New said funding for the project is dependent on private contributions. The lab will provide an outside environment for children enrolled in the program to work on motor therapy goals such as running, climbing and walking, she explained.
Currently, students are limited to an indoor classroom that always is not available.
"It will be a place that will always be available to them on a daily basis," Cirlot-New said.
Although no specific time has been set, Cirlot-New said the center staff is hopeful that construction on the project can be completed before the new school year begins in August. A specific location has not yet been determined, though it will be near the Martin Center, she added.
Named for a longtime MSU vice president who led in expanding the institution's accessibility to all, the Martin Center was created to assist people with disabilities benefit from the latest advances in the field of assistive technology.
Project IMPACT currently works with about 30 North Mississippi children up to 5 years old with developmental delays, including gross motor delays, communication impairments or impaired cognition.
Persons unable to attend the breakfast but with an interest in donating to the project may contact the Martin Center at 662-325-1028.
For more information on the benefit, contact Cirlot-New at 662-325-1028 or visit www.tkmartin.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.