KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — The Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis was packed with 1,500 people on Saturday morning, there to walk to raise funds for the families of children with autism.
The Channing’s Joy Foundation celebrated its 2nd annual Walk for Joy, an event that helps raise funds for routine, lifetime costs for those living with autism.
The foundation is named after Channing Flack, an 8-year-old living with autism. His mother, Lauren Flack, started the organization.
Lauren Flack said she quickly found the world is different for the one in 36 children living with autism. And more expensive.
She said the lifetime cost of living with autism is nearly five times that of others. This is largely due to therapy costs, she said.
“Autism is a lot of times seen as a linear spectrum, but it really is such a variety of ways that autism can present itself,” Lauren Flack said. “And we just want people to be aware.”
The first Walk for Joy was hosted in 2024 and raised $118,000. This year’s walk raised $126,000.
To learn more about the Channing’s Joy Foundation, visit channingsjoy.com.
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