Famous buildings around the world were lit up in blue on Tuesday, in honor of Autism Awareness Day.
And so was one average Turlock neighborhood.
Households on Carnival Drive in Turlock's Festival Housing Community, located off West Tuolumne Road near Monte Vista Crossings, changed their houselights to blue to increase awareness of autism. The disorder impairs social interaction and communication and affects roughly 1 in 50 children, per the Center for Disease Control.
The Turlock lighting was spearheaded by the Alpha Xi Delta sorority's California State University, Stanislaus chapter.
Alpha Xi Delta has a philanthropic partnership with autism advocacy group Autism Speaks nationwide. At each college campus, sorority members chose a nearby area to light up blue in hopes of increasing autism awareness.
“At CSU Stanislaus, the sisters of Alpha Xi Delta chose to help light up an area of our community that has been personally affected by Autism,” said JoEllen Reece, public relations chair for Alpha Xi Delta at CSU Stanislaus.
Sorority sisters worked in partnership with residents to make the lighting happen. Alpha Xi Delta provided the blue bulbs, and installed them for some homeowners.
Alpha Xi Delta members also passed out blue ribbons for autism awareness in front of Safeway on Tuesday.
“Through Alpha Xi Delta’s partnership with Autism Speaks, we hope our fundraising and awareness efforts can help put one more piece of the autism puzzle in place,” Reese said.
