On Saturday April 26, 2014, Danville hosted the 3rd annual Autism Awareness Walk in Anglers Park. Autism is a development disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. April is Autism Awareness Month. 1 in 68 people are diagnosed with Autism each year. Groups of Tunstall students took time out of their Saturday to volunteer, run, and cheer on other runners at the Autism Awareness Walk.

Sophomore, Payton Loy, helped in any way she could by putting signs up, cleaning up trash, and also cheered on others in the race. “The reason I wanted to contribute to the Autism walk is because my brothers and cousins have Autism. Its just close to home.”

Junior, Megan Cassada also helped set up and both walked/ran. She contributed because she says, “I just like volunteering and running, it’s just the right thing to do.”

Ms. Terea James wanted to volunteer because her little cousin has characteristics of Autism and wanted to help out, not just him but others as well. She had a blast by doing the fun run.

Overall, the walk was a huge success, consisting of 1,100 volunteers, runners, and walkers. The event collected $45,000  to go towards Autism citizens.