Southeast PA March for Babies Family Teams

Variety Club Philadelphia receives $20,000 grant from Comcast Foundation

Variety – The Children’s Charity of Greater Philadelphia has been granted $20,000 to purchase tablet computers and applications for use in their Direct Care for Kids program.
Variety’s “Direct Care for Kids” program provides special needs children with durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, braces and therapeutic bicycles at no cost to the families.
Through this grant, Variety will partner with Temple University’s Institute on Disabilities to provide training sessions for tablet recipients, specifically children with special needs in low income communities.
The training sessions will include instruction on using the tablets as well as providing projects that the children can work on during the training. Variety anticipates that the use of these new devices will help the children improve in speech, sociability, sensory/cognitive awareness and overall behavior. Amy Goldman, Co-Executive Director, Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, shared:
“Mary Pat Radabaugh, Director of IBM National Support Center for Persons with Disabilities said, ‘For Americans without disabilities, technology makes things easier. For American with disabilities, technology makes things possible.’ We are excited to work with Variety to help open doors for children with disabilities. Kids have so much potential! If we give people technology needed when they are children, we hope that will lead to higher school achievement, employment and independence.”
To be eligible, applicants must meet all of the criteria: 
Have a household income at 400% of Federal Poverty Guidelines or less
Have access or ability to access the internet
Have the ability to purchase recommended durability case
Print and complete attached application (See below)
Complete the pre- and post- Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) available here
Be able to attend specified trainings at Temple University’s Institute on Disabilities

If you would like to request a demo of apps, please feel free to contact PIAT at ATinfo@temple.edu or 800-204-7428!
ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013!
Please know that we cannot accept incomplete or late submissions.
All completed forms may be mailed to:

Variety - The Children’s Charity
ATTN: Direct Care for Kids
1520 Locust Street, 2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
or faxed to (215) 735-2450 with a cover letter with the attention for Nicole Simon.
For more information on “Direct Care for Kids” at Variety – The Children’s Charity, or more on the grant, please contact Nicole Simon at nicolesimon@varietyphila.org or (215) 735-0803 ext. 13.
To download the application, please click here or the “Download Forms” link below.

Variety Direct Care Application Comast Grant