By Mark Ambrogi
The Little Star Center’s fundraising breakfast is crucial to supplying needed funds for scholarships.
The nonprofit organization works with children and young adults affected with autism by providing applied behavior analysis therapy. The funds raised by the one-hour breakfast are used as a stop gap for families who have insurance challenges.
The Little Star Center fundraising breakfast is set for 8 a.m. Sept. 23 at Ritz Charles, 12156 N. Meridian St., Carmel. There are centers in Carmel, Lafayette, West Lafayette and Bloomington.
“This is our main fundraiser,” said Mary Rosswurm, Little Star Center executive director. “Last year we gave away $250,000 in scholarships. These scholarships are for families that, say, all of sudden dad loses his job and loses his health insurance. We don’t want to disrupt a child’s services. We have a safety net in place to keep the child on scholarship for awhile while dad finds a job and gets new insurance. It’s harder now because of the Affordable Care Act. You can only buy insurance through open enrollment. If he goes and buys insurance, it might take a couple of weeks to kick in.”
Rosswurm said every six months they review a child’s treatment plan.
“We have it set for 30 hours a week and all of a sudden the insurance company says, ‘Nope, we’re only going to give you 15 hours,’” Rosswurm said. “We won’t just cut the child’s hours. We’ll keep them where they are while fighting their appeal. An appeal could take nine months. A lot of times we win the appeal and (insurance companies) have to pay us back. But sometimes we lose the appeal. Again. it gives us that safety net when problems arise.”
Rosswurm said three parents will speak about their experience and how the scholarship helped keep their family in the center.
Registration for the breakfast is set for 7:30 a.m. Single tickets are $60 and a table for six costs $300. A corporate table, including recognition, is $500.
For more, visit littlestarcenter.org.
