Short Hills House Tour - Keller Williams Premier Properties of Essex,Union, Morris Counties

Short Hills House Tour Benefitting Autism Awareness locally is on Saturday, October 3rd, from 12pm-3pm.  Buy tickets via eventbrite.

Real Short Hills with Keller Williams Premier Properties of Essex, Union, & Morris Counties will host the 3rd Annual Short Hills House Tour Benefitting Autism Awareness.  The tour was created to gather interesting homes being sold by KW, to showcase what's really in Short Hills, while raising money to help a good cause in need & close to my heart.  Autism affects 1 in 45 children in NewJersey.  That is 1 child in every two classrooms, really.  To see more about my motivations read more in the blog, start from the bottom!

A Short Hills House Tour participant will have the opportunity to view 6 homes in the Short Hills area, with a minimum $25.00 donation.  All of the proceeds from the tour will go to Autism NJ as well as Millburn Township Public Schools, for the Benefit of Autism Awareness locally within our schools.  The items received by the district will include materials that celebrate, acknowledge, or educate during Autism Awareness Month in April.

Many collaborations were made to make this all possible, with Autism NJ, KW (a driving source to be sure we give back to the community we serve), Caring Kids, Hartshorn's PTO, SEPAC, MESPEC,  Education Foundation, and even the School Board to create a great event and get the benefit it provides.  Each year it just keeps getting better!  Thanks to all who support this effort!

Jacky Elliott, Team Leader at KW, helped launch the original relationship between Autism NJ and Millburn Township.  Dr. James Crisfield, former Millburn Township Superintendent, supported the nice union and appreciated what was provided to the district from Autism NJ by KW.

My "real" favorite of what was acquired from Autism NJ for Millburn Township Public Schools was a lesson plan that came out of the first Autism NJ kit. It simply help teachers educate children about differences amongst each other.  The lesson wasn't specifically about autism, but yet it had an objective to teach kids about acceptance.  Frankly, it warmed my heart and Byrnn Alerbici a Director with Autism NJ, truly deserves real recognition for creating it and the entire Classroom Resource Kit.

(On the right, Brynn Alerbici, Director from Autism NJ)

I hope you will attend the tour, and please feel free to give me feedback to continue the growth of this great event and cause.  Thanks!  Contact me if you have any questions.

Best,
Melanie Rosenbaum 

www.RealShortHills.com

Melanie@RealShortHills.com
(973)768-1818 cell

Autism NJ's release about their kits:  "Autism New Jersey has distributed more than 300 School Resource Packs to elementary school classrooms throughout the state, enough tools to teach 7,000+ students about autism awareness.

Each School Resource Pack contains all the tools needed for an elementary school teacher (grades K to 5) to raise awareness in his/her classroom and includes supplies for a 24 student classroom. Packs include our new Kids Booklet on Autism, lesson plans, resources for teachers, and awareness giveaways for students (pencils, bookmarks, temporary tattoos).

The packs were offered free to New Jersey teachers for the first time last year where 127 different elementary schools throughout the state were able to utilize this resource. Thank you to our sponsors for supporting this program and our important outreach into public schools."

Short Hills House Tour Benefitting Autism Awareness locally is on Saturday, October 3rd, from 12pm-3pm.  Buy tickets via eventbrite.

Annual House Tour to Benefit Autism Awareness, May 3, 2014

In just a couple of days, Keller Williams Premier Properties of Essex, Union, and Morris Counties will be opening the doors to many top properties in town for you to tour.  It is a great opportunity to be able to walk through some of the most beautiful mansions and homes in the area, at your own pace.

This Saturday, May 3rd from 12-3pm you can tour 6 beautiful examples of prime Short Hills, NJ Real Estate ranging in price from $1.5M-$4M.

The Annual House Tour to Benefit Autism Awareness is on its second year and going strong. Last year, with the generous contribution and participation from town members and local friends, we contributed money to help create 300 Autism New Jersey's Classroom Resource Kits which went into New Jersey public schools. This year, we are beyond happy that 100% of ALL house tour ticket purchases and donations will go DIRECTLY to the Millburn Public School System. That means, all the money fundraised will go into local classrooms for our children!  Each tour ticket pays for half of one kit!

Autism New Jersey has paced the way for building acceptance and autism awareness.  They are tops in providing tools and resources in NJ classrooms to help foster understanding. There is no known cure for Autism, and with 1 in 45 children in New Jersey being diagnosed, it is extremely important to integrate early intervention and provide resources for our community to support acceptance of others.  

Here is a picture of what exactly comes inside of every kit:

Help directly make a difference in our local community!

To purchase tickets or to make a donation please visit Eventbrite.

We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Autism NJ Rocks/ New House Tour Date

The other day in the mail came this splendid white box that looked like a delightful present.  And it was!

The box contained Autism NJ's classroom kit which we helped raise money for from the House Tour Benefiting Autism and Keller Williams Realty's Red Day.

The kit designed for teachers contains booklets in kid speak of autism facts, brief lesson plans which teach "students will understand that everyone has different abilities", posters, pencils, autism ribbon tattoos, book marks, decorations, and more, all for a classroom with 25 students in grades K thru 5.                        

This kit will help spread autism awareness throughout the community, just in time for Autism Awareness Month in April.

Autism affects 1 in 45 children in New Jersey.  It is a socialization & communication disorder.  There is a range and a spectrum within the disorder.  Behaving independently and appropriately are some of the biggest goals of people on the spectrum.

I spoke with Brynn Alberici, Special Event Coordinator at Autism New Jersey, and was thrilled that the next House Tour coming in May will now help create kits especially for Millburn Township.  Appropriately so, since the tour was planned by "Real Short Hills" and the homes on the tour were in Short Hills, which is a part of Millburn Township.

Thank you to Autism New Jersey for creating such an amazing resource to help spread Autism Awareness within Millburn Public Schools.   Last year Autism NJ's theme was to "Build Acceptance" and this year their theme is to "Make a Statement".  Mine is "Thank You"!!!

Please look for more information for the next house tour, and attend this great event for this awesome cause.  The next Tour is on Saturday, May 3rd from 12noon - 3pm.

Best,
Melanie

Autism Awareness Club Holds Successful Fundraiser At Soul Cycle

The Millburn High School Autism Awareness Club held a different kind of fundraiser, cleverly titled "The Awareness Cycle".  Members of the Millburn-Short Hills community hopped on a Soul Cycle bike for an intense spin class to raise awareness.  Soul Cycle generously sponsored the event at the newly opened Short Hills boutique studio on Feb. 7.  The participants raised over $1,400 while possibly burning the same amount of calories in a celebrity favorite Soul Cycle signature ride. The class, which is centered around community, brought town students, parents, the High School principal, along with members of the school board to sweat together for a good cause.

Photo from The Independent Press.
Principal Miron and students pictured together after the fundraising ride.

While Soul Cycle may not be a work out for everyone it was wonderful at creating a space for community to come together by encouraging each other to push through resistance and come out stronger. Julia Truitt, the high school senior and President of the club has created an organization that is dedicated to spreading a message of compassion, understanding and most importantly inclusion.  She has been honored in the past for her efforts at promoting awareness and fostering community. She did an amazing job with planning this successful event!  Her mother, Regina Truitt is a member of the School Board and is also focused on building a strong sense of community in town. We are lucky to have them both so actively contributing to our school district.  I was delighted to have participated and to have been a part of such a strong knit community that supports one another.


The Autism Awareness club will be hosting more events for Autism Awareness Month in April.

Keller Williams Premier Properties and Real Short Hills will also be hosting the second annual House Tour to Benefit Autism Awareness.  

For more information about the house tour, visit Real Short Hills.