A great day in Atlanta for Autism Speaks Georgia

Today the annual fundraising campaign for Walk Now for Autism Speaks Georgia culminated in the 2010 Walk at Atlantic Station.

Walk Now for Autism Speaks is the signature fundraising event, which brings together hundreds of thousands of participants annually across the United States and Canada with a common goal of supporting Autism Speaks.

This year the combined Georgia teams raised over $516,000 and hundreds of adults and children poured into Atlantic Station this morning to take part in the annual walk.

The Atlantic Station headquarters hosted numerous tents and booths filled with sponsors, kid friendly activities and information on resources and therapies for autistic children, including:

• Camp Dream, a barrier-free recreational camp for Georgians with disabilities, which was created through a partnership with the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation and is located just 80 minutes southwest of Atlanta.
• Big Thinkers Science Exploration, which offers science shows, after school programs, summer camps and birthday parties. Today's hands-on slime-making experiment was a huge hit.
• Sensations - Therafun, a multi-sensory activity center in Atlanta, featuring a climbing wall, zip line, mini trampolines, monkey bars, swinging rings, ball pits, exercise mats and more, as well as a large art room for painting, drawing and crafts.
• Driving Magic Inc., a non-profit in Duluth, GA, which provides therapeutic and recreational activities for people with disabilities and which focuses on carriage driving, horsemanship programs and community outreach.
• The Adaptive Learning Center, an inclusive preschool program for special needs children.

The festivities began at 8 a.m. this morning, giving walkers plenty of time to enjoy all the activities before embarking on the 2.2 mile walk around Atlantic Station. After the walk, many of the participants enjoyed lunch at the various Atlantic Station restaurants, including the Fox Sports Grill, featuring delicious turkey burgers, blackened children sandwiches and barbequed chicken nachos.

All in all, it was a beautiful day in Atlanta and a great day for Autism Speaks Georgia.