Meet Judy!

Judy loves life... and strives to experience it to the fullest!

Judy love to draw, sing, interact with friends, is a cheerleader and help her mom with fund raising for their organization, Gifts From the Heart For Downs. Judy is 14 years old and attends New Paltz Central High School, where she is integrated with her typical peers for a few of her classes.  

Judy and her brother, Matthew, were adopted by their single mom, Kim, president and founder of Gifts From the Heart For Downs, and were the inspiration behind the organization, as Judy had a wish to meet the Jonas Brothers and Matthew had many needs that Kim couldn't always meet.  Judy has been helping her mom raise donations by doing a fund raiser that Judy came up with herself called Dimes for Downs. To date she has helped raised almost 130,000 dimes!

Judy is full of life and doesn't let anything stand in her way. She is so happy that her design can help to get more wishes granted for individuals like herself who have Down syndrome. She loves know that she is making a difference!

Judy's designs are available at papercloudsapparel.com on these two shirts:

Check them out now and help Judy continue to help others!

Gifts From The Heart For Downs

In January of 2010, Kimberley Adams founded Gifts From the Heart for Downs. Adams found inspiration and motivation from her two adopted children with Down Syndrome.

Kimberly and her two children 

At first, Adams partnered with Dave Girgenti. Together, the two formed Down Syndrome Heroes, which was related to the Wish Upon a Heroes. During this time, Adams granted 8 wishes across the United States.

Now, Adams’ own organization, Gifts From the Heart for Downs, is its own incorporated organization that is working hard to grant even more wishes.

Adams’ hard work has helped people like Rachel meet Miley Cyrus…

Jaden go to a NASCAR race…

And introduced Alex to Kenny Chesney.

Plus so many more!

Help support this wonderful organization continue granting wishes to amazing individuals. Help Dylan meet Janet Jackson, Walker go to Disney, and Ryan get his iPad.

For the next two weeks, Paper Clouds Apparel has teamed up with Adams and her organization to bring you a limited-time line. 50% of each purchase will go to Gifts From the Heart for Downs to continue making dreams come true!

Meet Victory!

Today, Paper Clouds is proud to present Victory, our last (but definitely not least!) artist  for the St. Dominic Savio Academy line!

Victory loves to hang out with her friends. She is super good at reading and loves it! She also loves dancing, colors, and stickers. She loves the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and Hot Cheetos!

You have through the weekend to continue to support St. Dominic Savio Academy, and Victory, by heading over to the PCA website and purchasing one of the limited-edition shirts that Victory helped design! Half of your purchase goes directly back to Victory’s school!

Meet Collin!

We are proud to introduce you to Collin, one of the artists from St. Dominic Savio Academy!

Collin loves to sing. He is caring with his friends, always asking them where they are if they are not in the room. He loves the Wiggles! His favorite thing to do outside is swinging, but he is also great at riding the tricycle. He likes to count, do puzzles, play computer games, and get tickled!

There are only a few days left to help support Collin and his school by heading over to the Paper Clouds Apparel website and buying one of the shirts that Collin helped design. Check them out! Collin will see your support when 50% of your purchase goes back to St. Dominic Savio Academy!

Meet Colton

Today PCA is excited to share with you the the story of Colton, another one of our talented artists at St Dominics Savio Academy. We have had the honor of featuring his awesome jelly fish on our t-shirts for the past week.

Colton's Artwork

10-year-old Colton is super silly, has a great sense of humor, is very sweet and gentle, loves his electronics and his family. He was diagnosed with autism at 2 years old. He loves everything that has to do with Toy Story and The Incredibles. Colton enjoys drawing pictures of Buzz Lightyear on his ipad. He loves to jump on inflatables, surf the web and make home videos on the computer.

Colton and his family first came out to Arizona in 2010 in order to attend St Dominics Savio Academy for a summer session. Their intent was to return back to Texas for the regular school year, however, after seeing the progress Colton made in a short time, they decided that they needed to make it a full time commitment. After spending another year in Texas, they left all their family and friends behind and made a new home in Phoenix.

When Colton first started at SDSA, he could hardly sit at a desk and attend to a task. He also had very little language skills that consisted mostly of scripting from movies. Now he can sit at his desk and be trusted not to dart away. He's also learning to read and talking significantly more in general. 

Colton would not be where he is today without the help of SDSA and here at PCA we are proud to help support both Colton and his school. There are only 6 days left in our campaign with SDSA, so check out Colton's shirt on our website now! If you like what you see, invest and know that you are truly making a difference in the life of Colton.

Lexie’s Law encourages corporations to donate to nonprofit organizations that provide scholarships to private schools for children with special needs and foster care students. Corporations can receive tax credit for their donations to these School Tuition Organizations (STOs), so long as the total credits claimed throughout the state do not exceed $5 million a year.

Lexie’s Law was enacted and launched in 2009 after an effort led by the Institute of Justice and Andrea Weck-Robertson. Weck-Robertson became involved with the passing of such a law after she saw the progress her daughter, Lexie, made after being removed from the public school system and put into a private school that catered to her individual special needs. Weck-Robertson teamed up with the Institute of Justice and became a spokesperson for the law.

Andrea Weck-Robertson

A student is qualified for a scholarship if they are identified as having a disability according to the Rehabilitation Act, has been identified by a school district as a child with a disability, is eligible to receive school district services, or has been placed in foster care in Arizona at any time before graduating high school or obtaining a GED. Qualified students must also meet one of the following requirements: previous enrollment in an Arizona public school or preschool program for students with disabilities for 90 days of the previous school year, or an entire semester of the current; current enrollment or intent to enroll in a qualified private kindergarten or preschool program for students with disabilities; or be a depended of a US Armed Forces member currently stationed in Arizona.

For more information on Lexie’s Law, please visit here.

To read Weck-Robertson’s inspiring story, read this article from phxpeople.com.

Meet the Artist

Today we are proud to introduce you to Lexie, one of the students at St. Dominic Savio Academy.  For the next two weeks, Paper Clouds Apparel has been given the opportunity to showcase her beautiful artwork on our t-shirts. Here at PCA, we think it is important to provide you with the names and stories of the individuals whom you empower with every purchase.

Lexie and her mom.

11-year-old Lexie, the namesake for Arizona's "Lexie's Law," has been diagnosed with autism, cerebral palsy, and mild mental retardation. Despite her label and the fact that she is non-verbal, Lexie is a happy and awesome sister to her two sisters and two step-brothers. Lexie speaks to the world through sign language and with the help of her iPad. She loves horses, rainbows, Veggie Tales, pink, dinosaurs, owls, and Batman. 

When you buy a t-shirt from PCA in the next two weeks, Lexie will see 50 percent of the profit return back to St. Dominic Savio Academy - the school that has provided her with both the support and challenges she needs as a special needs student.

PCA Launches New Campaign with St. Dominic Savio Academy!

To our PCA family:

Yesterday marked the day of a new campaign for PCA with St. Dominic Savio Academy.

 

St. Dominic Savio Academy is a school for children with autism and related disorders in Tempe, Ariz. They use research-based methodology of applied behavior analysis to insure these students the best education possible.

According to their mission statement, they responded to the “overwhelming community need” for education and care for children with special needs.

St. Dominic Savio Academy’s highly qualified staff is full of certified special education teachers and therapists that bring their thoughtfulness and kindness to the education they provide to their students. Every teacher has three or more years of experience teaching children with autism.

The school offers a year-round program in a traditional school environment with structured classrooms that utilize an applied behavior analysis-based program.

Recently, funding for special needs schools like St. Dominic Savio Academy was cut by $644 million. Help support this fantastic school by heading over to the Paper Clouds website today and checking out the limited-edition shirts that their students designed. Half of your purchase will go directly towards St. Dominic Savio Academy, so they can continue to support, educate, and love their students.