Many in Montgomery have banded together to support Brooke Skibinski
By: Jake Uitti
MONTGOMERY An affliction that manifests itself in lack of development in areas of social interaction, language and symbolic or imaginative play, autism affects as many as one in 1,000 children, according to some estimates.
In an attempt to help raise money for autism research, many from the Montgomery community have banded together to support Brooke Skibinski, the 3-year-old daughter of Rob Skibinski, a Montgomery Lower Middle School teacher.
To raise funds for autism research, many have donated money for a walk slated for 2 p.m. Sunday at Mercer County Park in West Windsor. The walk, according to Mr. Skibinski, is the signature fundraising event for Autism Speaks, a national organization that raises money for autism research.
Mr. Skibinski said his daughter was recently diagnosed with autism and, since then, he and his family have looked for a school that would be suitable for his daughter’s needs.
"We went through a long process of trying to find a school for our daughter," he said. "Through the process, we came to learn that 60 to 70 families are trying to get into these schools in the area. About one or two are selected each year. We were fortunate enough to get into one of these schools."
Mr. Skibinski said he wanted to find a way to give back to those families not fortunate enough to be chosen. To do this, he and his wife registered a team in the autism walk to raise money.
He said he put a flyer up in Lower Middle School hoping a handful of teachers would donate some money but what happened, he said was that the whole community got involved.
"It’s grown exponentially," he said. "It’s been a great outcome."
So far, about $6,000 has been raised toward the cause through online and walk-in donations for his team, Brooke’s Brigade.
In addition, each teacher at Village Elementary has joined Brooke’s Brigade and is registered as a member of the team.
By visiting the Web site www.autismwalk.org/cnj, Mr. Skibinski said, and looking for the team name Brooke’s Brigade, every teacher who registered will be listed.
And the Montgomery High School football team has also become involved.
"That’s really been a big help," Mr. Skibinski said. "These guys really stepped up. They’ve been a class act."
The money that is raised will go to Autism Speaks for research.
"I want to stress that none of the money goes toward us," said Mr. Skibinski. "It goes to the other families that didn’t have the same outcome as we had."
He added, "It’s important to get to these kids early enough so that therapy can start to take effect." The earlier the better, he said, so that the autistic children can begin to learn techniques to combat their affliction.
The period for online donations for the autism walk ends 5 p.m. Friday, he said.
To register to donate, visit www.autismwalk.org/cnj.

