By: Amanda Givens

Easter is upon us and that means bunnies, eggs, and the ultimate treat of PEEPS!  Peeps, those yummy, gooey, delicious sweet marshmallow treat is finally here.  Peeps come in all sorts of colors: purple, pink, yellow, and our favorite color at Reaching Milestones, blue.  Peeps come in adorable shapes of bunnies, eggs, and the classic baby chick.  But, what happens to these poor Peeps when Easter is over?  More than likely our little Peeps will go on a clearance shelf, and no one will bring them home.  They will no longer have their luster of fluffy goodness because the holiday is over.  Well, Reaching Milestones will not let this happen to our Peeps, especially our blue Peeps!

We all know how popular the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” became last year on social media. For those who are not aware, the Ice Bucket Challenge took place from July 29 – August 12, 2014.  People were challenged to either dump or submerge themselves in ice water, while filming themselves.  Once the task was completed the individuals would post the film onto social media and challenge others to complete the same task in 24 hours. If individuals did not wish to participate in the challenge, they could donate money for research for ALS on the ALS association website.  The ALS association and its 38 chapters received over 4.1 million dollars in donations during that July/August time frame compared to the 1.12 million; they rose from the prior year around the same time frame, (http://www.alsa.org/about-als/).  Think about how much awareness was made just from a small and fun challenge on social media; over 4.1 million dollars’ worth.  ALS affects 30,000 Americans age range from 40 to 70 (http://www.alsa.org/about-als/).

Autism affects one in ever sixty eight children.   April 2^nd is World Autism Awareness Day; it is the day to “Light up Blue”, and raise awareness of those who are affected by Autism.  April 2^nd is the first day of Autism Awareness Month.  What can we do as a community to raise more awareness and funding for research on Autism?  Reaching Milestones wants to help our community by spreading more awareness to others and funding for research to Autism Speaks ( https://www.autismspeaks.org/about-us).

What will Reaching Milestones do for our community? We are going to ….. EAT BLUE PEEPS!    That’s right we are going to save the blue Peeps and raise awareness for Autism.  Our office at St. Mary’s developed a new and fun “challenge”.  They have named it “Peeps for our Peeps”, and our first challenge was launched April 2^nd 2015.  This challenge is very similar to the ALS ice bucket challenge.  It’s a very simple gooey challenge:

1. Once you have been “Called out” on social media you have 24 hours to fit as many blue Peeps in your mouth as possible (without choking of course), film this challenge, and “call out” at least three people.
2. While having the Peeps in your mouth you must say the phrase, “Please Play Peeps for Our Peeps.”
3. Post the video onto the Peeps for Our Peeps Facebook page.
4. If a person who was “called out” does not wish to participate in the video challenge they can donate to the “Light it up Blue” campaign through Autism Speaks (https://www.autismspeaks.org/) or on our “Donate Now” action button on our homepage (https://www.reachingmilestones.com/).

Let’s make this go “viral”.  This small challenge could help spread awareness and possibly more funding for research on Autism.  Get your Peep on!