ceptive to the idea. We ….

ceptive to the idea. We had a meeting with them and they had said it is a win for us and it is a win for them because it allows the building to be used. In talking with people from the church they tell us that they are happy that the building is being used instead of just sitting here.”

The move into the convent will provide Tractors for Autism with several benefits, said Laschen. One of the most important of these, she said, is visualization. Since its start, Tractors for Autism has relied on donations to help others, but without a physical location to call home, Laschen said it made it difficult for people to see where their dollars were going.

“One plus to having this (location) is that there is now a place people can identify with us,” she said. “People can’t donate to what they can’t see.”

Another benefit, Laschen said, is that the location allows them to grow and expand the things they do to help members of the community. In the past, Tractors for Autism has held several events to help people with disabilities, donating to families and individuals who needed help, and that is something they hope to continue to do.

“We are not just helping kids,” said Laschen. “We also give blankets to veterans because they need help, too, a lot of them come home with disabilities. We donated money to someone who lost their home and we donated a threewheeled bicycle to someone who wanted to learn how to bike and never could ... With this building, we could grow with it.”

Once the building is ready for use, one of the first planned uses for the space will be for an after-school program the organization has ran in various spaces over the past five years. Two days a week, Laschen said the group has volunteers run the program from 3:30-5:30 for kids who want extra help with their homework. In the past, the program has been held in the Recreational Center on Main Street and in Trinity Lutheran Church, but now they will have a space that is all theirs to work in.

“We plan on using the downstairs for our after-school program and we want to start that in October when we open,” she said. “We started this five years ago and have had 10 to 12 kids come in for it. It has been pretty consistent over the years.”

If everything goes according to plan, Laschen said the new location in the convent should allow Tractors for Autism to hold their after-school program on more days during the week and eventually hold a summer program to help retain school skills when students are out of the classroom.

“It is a work in progress,” she said. “We typically do this two days a week and we are hoping to go up to three days. Eventually we would like to have this open in the summer for kids, especially those kids with disabilities so they won’t lose their skills over the summer.”

A ribbon cutting for the new Tractors for Autism location is to be held on Sept. 15. The public is invited to attend.

STAFF PHOTO