Volcom Give Back Series Supports: TACA

By Derek Sabori

In 2011, our Give Back Series has been going strong. If you’re a follower of the New Future Blog, then you’re aware of our V.Co-logical Series, where we donate 1% of those sales to environmentally focused non-profits across the globe through our 1% for the Planet membership. The Give Back Series is a little different…it’s people-focused.

Whenever you buy Give Back Series Product, you’re helping us support non-profit organizations that we have partnered up with each season. These are organizations that are doing amazing things in the community and while you may or may not be benefiting from the work they are doing, I can assure you, they are doing very positive, and life changing work.

For Spring 2011, we are proud to support Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), a national non-profit organization that provides support and resources to over 20,000 families across the United States.

Now mind you, this is our 2^nd time teaming up with TACA for our Give Back Series – in fact, they were one of our first, significant programs that proved to be very successful. Being new to the job and all, I felt like I needed to dig a little deeper. So a little over a month ago, I went into the TACA offices to meet with the founder Lisa Ackerman and the new CEO Janine Ingram. I wanted to learn more about an organization that I had heard so much about, and I wanted to get some insight and material for the New Future blog…Here’s what I learned:

TACA is in its 11^th year now, and their staff is up to 14 full timers with an army of about 300 volunteers (many dedicating 20+ hours a week!). Research is showing that approximately 1 in 91 kids are affected by autism and TACA’s mission – in a nutshell – is to provide real help now. Officially, Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to educating, empowering and supporting families affected by autism. For families who have just received the autism diagnosis, TACA aims to speed up the cycle time from the autism diagnosis to effective treatments. TACA helps to strengthen the autism community by connecting families and the professionals who can help them, allowing them to share stories and information to help improve the quality of life for people with autism. You can visit their website atwww.tacanow.org.

When you hear the stories of the families that have been affected by this devastating neurological and biological disorder and the stories of how TACA has helped, you can’t help but be moved to support them.

Lisa and Janine are two women completely committed and passionate about helping families. It’s so inspiring to hear their stories and to see the fire in their eyes as they speak about the work they are doing. I left that meeting fully energized.

Now it’s your turn…check out the tees we’re offering in support of TACA and if you’re digging them, head to your local retailer or go to volcom.com to support an organization that is truly making a difference in this world.

Check back often because April is Autism Awareness month and there are events that we’ll be telling you about soon…In the meanwhile, take a moment to meet Lisa and Janine here - http://vimeo.com/20903650.