Hello Friends,

On October 22, 2017, my wife, Holly, and I will join thousands of runners in Washington, D.C with the goal of completing the 42nd annual Marine Corps Marathon and, more importantly, raising money for autism research. Every runner that morning will have different motives and different reasons to run 26.2 miles. For us, we run for one purpose that day - our precious son, Jackson "Jack" Owen, age 10 who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age 3. He has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) which is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. In the U.S alone, it is estimated to affect 1 in every 68 births, and more than 3.5 million Americans live with ASD. An astounding 1 in 45 boys are estimated to be affected by this disorder yet no one knows the cause nor the cure. Fortunately, there are a range of specialist educational and behavioral programs that can help children with ASD yet this treatment is not inexpensive. Specifically, Jack has made great strides over the years but many things we take for granted such as having an at-length conversation, understanding another person's emotions or the ability to express feelings himself are still major challenges. However, our family continues to be fully-committed in making a difference for him and others affected by ASD. This is where OAR comes into play...

My wife and I were introduced to OAR (the Organization for Autism Research) about 2 years ago and we were very impressed with their mission, goals, and impact in the autism community both nationally, and locally. We are so impressed that we will fundraise for them as we run the Marine Corp Marathon this October. Since 2002, OAR has funded more than $3.6 million dollars for autism research and 87% of all funds they raise goes directly to research and services for families and children with autism. OAR is committed to continuing to provide essential data on ASD, searches for factors that put children at risk for ASD and possible causes, and developing resources that help identify children with ASD as early as possible. You can visit their website and see the impact of dollars raised by clicking on this link: https://researchautism.org/who-we-are/see-our-impact/

Personally, we would love to raise money for a local autism charity but options are very limited and we feel the best approach is to support a larger company like OAR that has a better chance of making an impact on research, development, scholarships and support services.

Jack (pictured above in the front center) was on his elementary school track team for the 2016-2017 school year and looks forward to our annual family 5k events. He loves to run! I am sure he will have fun getting a few training miles in with us as we prepare for the race!

Please help us in exceeding our fundraising goal for this worthy cause. For a secure online donation, please click on the green buttom at the top right of the fundraising page. For checks or other forms of payment, I am happy to mail to OAR on your behalf. Please contact Steve Owen at RealtorSteveOwen@gmail.com or 772.473.0828 for further assistance. All donations are fully tax-deductible.

Jack and our family thanks you for your love and support.

God Bless,

The Owens

Steve, Holly, Carter, Jack and Adeline