Gene Mandarino is becoming a rather prolific story teller, author and illustrator/artist and he's sharing his talents this weekend to benefit others. While next Tuesday is technically designated Caring Tuesday when lots of people share with the charities of their choice, Gene will be marking Small Business Saturday helping both the small business of The Christmas Tree and the new Logan Autism Learning Center of Benton Harbor.
Mandarino's book, "What's Autism?" will be on sale at The Christmas Tree during their huge holiday party on Saturday, November 26th, and he will be there to sign your personal copy for you. More importantly, 100-percent of the proceeds from the books sold that day will in turn be donated to help Logan's new Autism Learning Center at 1651 E. Nickerson Avenue in Benton Harbor.
Gene will be in the house from 10am until 5pm on Saturday during the Christmas Tree's Open House celebration, selling and signing his books to benefit the team at Logan.
That's the center that serves individuals and their families through applied behavior analysis therapy, social skills classes, parent/family training and support and Super Sibs group sessions.
The Christmas Tree is located just off of M-63 north of St. Joseph at 2675 Mizpah Park Drive in Benton Harbor, and besides the book signing, they'll feature many holiday themed events and sales opportunities.
Logan's Autism Learning Center provided the first center-based and community-based applied behavior analysis programs in all of Berrien County and continues to be the leading service provider in such areas. The unit's services are led by nationally recognized, award-winning autism research scientist, Joshua John Diehl, Ph.D., who is Chief Strategy Officer for Autism Services at Logan, and Dan Ryan who has been Director of Autism Services at Logan for more than a decade.
Kristin Wier is Clinical Site Director at the Nickerson Avenue center, and she has also worked with Logan for more than a decade and was the first to provide ABA services as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in Michigan's Great Southwest. Her newly renovated and state-of-the-art facility provides comprehensive and individualized services for children across the region. From academic readiness to social skills, from communication to daily living skills, Logan is a well-defined star in the autism universe for our area.
