The 5th Annual Mardi Gras for Autism event, Fullerton, California – The March 1st event hosted by Fullerton Cares, a charity that promotes action, awareness and acceptance for autism, raised money for the Fullerton School District’s special education programs.
The king and queen of the event were Fullerton city council member and former mayor Bruce Whitaker and his wife Linda.
Bruce Whittaker said:
“We are thrilled to be king and queen of Mardi Gras for Autism and we are happy that Fullerton Cares brings such a special event to our community,”
They told the Daily Titan that the event promotes communication and awareness.
Larry Houser, Fullerton Cares founder said that the Whittakers were chosen because they have been very supportive of the charity.
“they’ve been really big supporters of not only this event, but with all of our events last year. Bruce was the mayor last year and Linda made it a point to always call, to share our events and to check up on us seeing if we ever needed anything.”
Larry Houser said that the overall attendance of the event was good, although it was hampered a bit by rain.
“We just want everybody to know how tight this community is,”
The Whitakers and Larry Houser both highlighted the importance of the event in getting information out there to people.
Linda Whitaker said that she loved:
“the whole idea of mixing Mardi Gras and autism and doing a fundraiser and making it fun for adults and informational.”
Andy Butterweck attended the event with daughter Kaitlyn 4 for the first time this year.
He said:
“This is a great event and I wish everybody the best of luck who’s involved in it,” he said. “I hope that Larry is able to raise a bunch of money for his charity, for Fullerton Cares and keeps promoting the awareness for autism.”
The Mardi Gras for Autism event included performances by students from local dance studios and the circus club from Fullerton High School.
The Aquarium of the Pacific also brought their “aquarium on wheels”
The full article by David Coats in the Daily Titan can be found here