Rock the Vote!

In an effort to get people to vote for Heeling Autism to win $250,000 from Pepsi's Refresh campaign, we printed out a bunch of fliers and took to the streets of Manhattan to hand them out. Michelle came down from Yorktown Heights with boxes and boxes of free Pepsi t-shirts to hand out (who doesn't love free stuff??!) in the hopes of convincing people to vote.

Frito and Paloma on the ride to Union Square:


Waiting for others to arrive:



Julia, Charlotte, and Michelle getting ready to hand out t-shirts and fliers. You would be amazed at how reluctant New Yorkers are to take anything from anyone, regardless of whether it is free or not. Like another raiser said when he tried handing out fliers, New Yorkers act like you are trying to hand them a pile of steaming poop. It made for a frustrating evening but I feel like we made a slight impact at the very least.


Everyone was fascinated by Dina and kept asking what kind of dog she is. She is one unique and beautiful looking shepherd!


Frito guarded the van while we handed out t-shirts. She lazily awaited her admirers to approach her.


In the end, Heeling Autism finished in 5th or 6th place so we did not win the $250,000 prize. Everyone was bummed, of course, but although we did not win the money, we brought more awareness to the Heeling Autism program so all was not lost!