This month's newsletter is again filled with great news. It's so rewarding to be able to say that two months in a row. As we mentioned last month, there is a fundraiser for Jake on December 13th. If you are anywhere near the Tampa Bay area, you gotta come out. We've had a tremendous response from the business community so there will be many great prizes to be raffled off. Get all the details by viewing the brochure.

We wanted the fundraiser contributions to go towards something specific, rather than raising money in general. After evaluating Jake’s needs, we feel that a therapy room is his greatest need at this time. I had to leave work early one day to go to therapy to witness him crawling. As you have learned in past newsletters, Jake is quickly growing out of his small play area at home. We are fearful each day that “this may be the day he flips over the fence onto his nugget”. His safety is a continuous concern. So, with the wonderful generosity of everyone who is helping to make Jake’s fundraiser happen we have all ready started preparations for his new room with hopes of having it completed by his Birthday, which is Christmas Eve. We plan to pad every square inch of the floor and half way up the walls. We'll then furnish it with products that will provide Jake with sensory input and vestibular stimulation. The structure of the room will require a lot of time and hard work as you can see by this photo taken today. It is full of supplies and construction begins this week. We are all very excited about the opportunity to work with Jake every day at home and even more excited to see what kind of response we get from Jake once it is completed.

A lot of people have inquired about Jake Junction merchandise. Now that we're having a Pool Tournament as the fundraiser, we wanted the winners to have something to remember Jake by, so we finally had T-Shirts made. Before we sell them at the Tournament next weekend, we wanted to give our loyal newsletter recipients the first opportunity to purchase them. Supply is limited because we didn't know how many would sell. They're $12 each and we have white with navy lettering and black with white lettering. The logo and website address is on the front and back. We have sizes from small to 2XL. Click here to purchase.

We had a lot to be thankful on Thanksgiving this year. We are very thankful to all of you who love and support Jake. We are thankful to our community who has been generous enough to assist with raffle items for Jake’s first fundraiser and of course thankful for our little man who seems to progress steadily these days. On the morning of Thanksgiving, Jake started to hold out his arms for us to pick him up. This actually brings tears to my eyes as I share it with you. We’ve waited and worked for years for him to be able to communicate his needs. Now that we know when he wants to be held, we just may not put him down.

As always, we can't thank you enough for your support!