Harrah’s Gulf Coast donates $12K to local autism center

Early last week, Harrah’s Gulf Coast made a sizeable donation to Mississippi Centers for Autism and Related Developmental Disabilities.

Harrah’s Gulf Coast has been a supporter of the Mississippi Centers for Autism and Related Developmental Disabilities for years, but this year they took their support to a whole different level.

With the help of their guests, the casino was able to collect $12,800 this year to donate to the autism center. Harrah’s Gulf Coast Communications Manager Shay Danise said, “This is the season of giving, and we know the reason we give is because it feels good; it’s the right thing to do, so we’re just happy that we can play a small role in hopefully the success of the organization.”

Harrah’s made donations to the center in the past, but never of this size. When they announced the amount to the organization, the workers could not believe it. Mississippi Centers for Autism and Related Developmental Disabilities Clinical Director Katelyn Martin said, “We didn’t expect such an amount, and it was just like a huge, biggest blessing and to be able to continue with our mission and just even to be able to expand on it. It just means so much to us.”

The center not only provides ABA therapy for children with autism, but also gives support to families of children with autism. “I would say that’s even more so our mission than giving therapy is making sure that we help these families as much as we can.”

With the funds, the center will continue to further its mission to support the families in many ways such as improving its parent training program. “We really want to grow that program, do some parent support groups, maybe look into some speakers or a lending library with materials for them. I think we’re going to head in that direction.”