The Hiram Farm Living and Learning Community is a 501 (c) (3) not-for- profit organization that was founded by a group of families of individuals with autism. We began offering employment and day programming for individuals with autism at a 120-acre certified organic farm in Hiram, OH in June of 2009. When the program opened, we were serving six participants with autism. Today the number of participants has more than doubled and we receive additional requests for services every week.

You can learn more about the specific activities being done on the farm by visiting our website at www.hiramfarm.org. Or, for the most up to date information, view our Facebook Group at
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=126557370462

We have applied for a $50,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project to fund construction of a multi-purpose building on the farm. This building will serve as our program center and house our office so that all of our activities will be located directly on the farm rather than in off-site rented space. We have already received contributions to our building fund and promises of donations of materials and construction labor to build this building. The Pepsi Refresh grant would provide us with the funds needed to begin construction immediately.

The Pepsi Refresh Project is a competition of sorts. Over a thousand organizations around the country have submitted proposals and are soliciting votes from their supporters and the general public. In our $50,000 funding category, the organizations finishing the month of June with the top ten vote totals will receive grants. Those that don’t make the top ten can re-apply to participate again in July.

Hiram Farm is currently in 33rd place and we have been moving up steadily. When voting began on June 1, we were 339th. Any additional support we receive will greatly improve our chances of receiving this grant which would allow us to make a major improvement in the quality of our programming and also allow us to serve more people with autism. Please do anything you can to send more supporters to vote for our proposal on the Pepsi Refresh Project web site.

The web address of the Hiram Farm page is:
http://www.refresheverything.com/hiramfarm

Thank you so much!
Frank & Carol Gwirtz