Thompson Foundation and volunteer Sarah Hakes honored with “Reaching Out” award
March 20, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Adrienne Cornwall
cornwalla@health.missouri.edu
573.884.4512
ST. LOUIS (March 20, 2015) – Town & Style magazine in St. Louis has honored the Thompson Foundation for Autism and dedicated volunteer Sarah Hakes with the magazine’s Reaching Out award.
The foundation is being recognized for its support of the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Missouri in Columbia, which serves children with autism throughout Missouri and the St. Louis area with medical care as well as behavioral and diagnostic services. The center also provides training and education to health professionals, caregivers and educators statewide and in St. Louis.
Sarah Hakes is being recognized for her many years of volunteer service as the event coordinator for the foundation’s annual It’s In the Cards charity event and auction, which benefits the Thompson Center and its clinical, research and training efforts. During her nine years as coordinator, the event successfully raised $3.7 million. The ninth annual “It’s In the Cards” event, featuring special guest Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals, will be held April 30 at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis.
“Her efforts demonstrate the giving nature of Sarah’s character and the important role she has played with the event since the initial gala in 2007,” said Jack Reis, a member of the Board of Directors for the Thompson Foundation for Autism.
Hakes is a native of Minonk, Ill., daughter of Mary and the late Jim Ford. She and her husband, Bill Hakes, who hails from Dana, Ill., have three children. They live in suburban St. Louis, where Sarah is a vice president with the St. Louis office of Colliers International, a major commercial real estate firm.
On April 2, national autism advocacy group Autism Speaks celebrates a Light It Up Blue campaign on World Autism Awareness Day, during which partner buildings such as the Empire State Building and Sears Tower are lit with blue light. Colliers is partnering with Bentall Kennedy to shine a light on autism by participating in Light It Up Blue in 2015.
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The Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Missouri is a national leader in confronting the challenges of autism and other developmental conditions through its collaborative research, training and service programs.